C'est la Vie
by Jayden Winters
Summary: Everything happens for a reason. Things change so you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate when they're right. And sometimes, good things fall apart so better things can fall together. Riku/Sora, Axel
1. Chapter 1

**Jayden Winters would like you to note…that you just lost the game again**. First and foremost, thank you sooooooo much to my biggest influence and support, **Chronos Mephistopheles**. She's been there for me through all of my hardships this last year. She is a wonderful friend! That and on top of all that, her fanfiction is exquisitely delightful so READ IT! Next and _secondmost_, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Unfortunate, I know.

**WARNING: **This story may contain dramatic 90's themes, pinball wizards, shonen-ai and teenagers with a penchant for the dramatic. If you have consumed any of the above and have experienced symptoms of severe giggling, uncontrollable fangirl attacks or trouble with nostalgia due to boy band references, please contact Jayden Winters immediately via the shiny button at the bottom of the page.

And without further ado...

-.X.-

**Baby Got Back**

-.X.-**  
**

It was much too early to be awake. _No _human being should have to be up at the butt-crack of dawn vomiting their guts out. Rather…no _man _should be vomiting at six o'clock in the morning. Being sick in the morning was a _woman _thing…definitely _not _a man thing. That is, unless of course, that man happened to have a hangover, which Sora Strife most certainly did _not_. No more complimentary airplane peanuts for him. As far as that went, no more airplane rides at three o'clock in the morning either.

After losing the remainder of the contents in his stomach, he removed his head from the blue trashcan and about-faced to find his older brother standing behind him, a sympathetic expression upon his face. Sora offered a sickly smile before wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jean jacket.

Irvine shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I'm going to go over to the luggage area and look for our bags. You gonna be okay…?"

"Oh you know me, Ir-" Sora immediately twirled around and bent over the trashcan for the third time that morning. "I hate airplane rides…"

"I don't blame you," Irvine responded and began heading toward the doors.

Shortly thereafter, Sora felt a little better and decided that he'd better go find what's-his-face with the highlighter-yellow tie. Needless to say, he wasn't hard to spot. The sixteen-year-old took a seat next to the awkward looking CPS agent. Sora noted how his toupee looked like a dead squirrel and how his mustache resembled one that he'd seen in an eighties porno.

"So…What's your name again?" Sora questioned, tapping his fingers on his knee.

"Mike."

"What's your favorite kind of music?"

"You asked me this on the plane."

"I know." Sora's shoulders drooped a little as he let out a sigh. "I'm bored."

"Study then."

"I don't have anything to study with." Sora sat quiet for a moment, squeaking the rubber soles of his shoes on the floor.

Mike's eyes narrowed. "Do you have to do that?"

"Are you married?"

"No."

"Do you have children?"

"No."

"Do you want children someday?"

Mike looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. "If I can find the right woman, I wouldn't mind children."

"I'm sorry that you haven't found her yet."

The CPS agent chuckled and leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. "You talk like you've found her already."

A smile crossed Sora's lips and, mirroring Mike, he leaned back in his chair. "Yeah. Kinda."

"Tell me about her."

"Beautiful," he quietly answered, glancing up at the large clock on the wall. "What time are they supposed to be here?"

"Should already be here."

* * *

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Mike glanced suspiciously over at Sora squirming around in his seat. "Rinoa should be here anytime."

"That's what you said an _hour _ago…" he whined and leaned forward.

"It's only been ten minutes," Irvine corrected, sifting through his carry-on. He pulled out a book and handed it to his younger brother. "Read this. I think you'll like it."

Sora examined the cover of the book, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_. He shrugged and decided that because it wasn't Shakespeare, it was probably safe to open.

"I guess you didn't have to use the restroom _that _badly, did you?" Brown eyes peered down at Sora over a newspaper, eyebrow quirked.

Sora glared in Mike's general direction before turning the page of the book. A short girl stomped over to Sora, apparently offended by the glare. She placed her hands on her hips and stuck her leg out (like women like to do) while tapping her cowboy boot expectantly.

Sora looked up from Irvine's book and frowned, slightly confused.

And, as fate would have it, the girl didn't take his frown kindly. The brunette girl took the opportunity to clear her throat in an obnoxious fashion. "Why did you glare at me?" she shrieked.

Mike raised his palms to his chest and scooted over. He gave Sora a sidelong glance before he saw someone he recognized. He got up from his seat to greet her.

Irvine looked over at his younger brother and raised an eyebrow. He set his magazine down in his lap and decided that this confrontation was about to get interesting.

"Uh…Excuse me?"

"You just glared at me!"

"No I didn't," Sora protested and closed the book.

"I saw you do it!"

"No you didn't. I was glaring at Mike, the guy who was sitting next to me!" he exclaimed and gestured to him.

Silence spread between the two for a few moments before she started giggling and sat down next to him. "Sorry about that! I thought you were giving me a dirty look! My name's Selphie by the way."

"Hi Selphie," Irvine intervened. "This is my little brother, Sora. And my name is Irvine. It's a true pleasure to meet you, beautiful."

Selphie grinned at Irvine. "It's a pleasure to meet ya! I'm really digging the hat." She redirected her attention to Sora with a smile on her glossy lips. "So you're this 'Sora' miss Vanille has been talking so much about?"

Confused. Completely lost. Selphie's sudden cheery disposition threw him for a loop. And Vanille? Wasn't that supposed to be his foster sister? How in the world did she know about her?

A dumb look must've been present on his face seeing as, quite suddenly, Selphie chuckled and began to explain herself. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I'm here with Rinoa. I'm the reason why we were late. We _had _to get coffee. And I wanted to meet you guys before Axel, Demyx and Riku could get their hands on ya!"

Lightning fast, he caught up to Selphie and smiled. "I didn't know there was anyone _that _anxious to meet us…"

She giggled, "You guys are cute. Do you want to get some coffee while waiting for Rinoa to take care of business?"

"I don't know if-" Irvine abruptly cut Sora off, not only snagging his book back from his brother, but also managing to slap his hand over Sora's mouth. "That would be wonderful! My treat?"

"No silly!" she exclaimed, holding up her tic-tac sized purse. "I've totally got it! Plus…I invited you," Selphie chirped, waggling her index finger in the air. She winked and was first to stand up. The brunette grabbed Sora and Irvine's wrists and said, "The best coffee shop is right over there!"

"But wait!" Sora protested, "What about our stuff?"

Selphie momentarily paused before turning a complete one-eighty and marching back to their unguarded bags. "Sorry. Forgot. Rinoa treated me to a double-shot mocha with extra-extra chocolate this morning." She picked up both boys' carry-on bags and slung them over her right shoulder.

"I can get my own bag…" Irvine murmured, lifting his over-sized suitcase up off of the tiled floor.

"Pssshaw! I got it. You two just worry about your heavy-looking luggage. I've totally got these."

Irvine shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips, and began to follow Selphie. Sora merely shrugged, picked up his significantly smaller-sized suitcase and followed the hyperactive girl and his sibling.

"What kind of coffee do ya think you guys are gonna get?" she asked, slightly slowing her pace.

"Something with vanilla in it…" Irvine replied thoughtfully.

"Do they have smoothies…?" Sora questioned. He hated coffee.

"Mmmhmmm…They have those and Italian Sodas. I take it you don't like coffee?" Selphie replied.

"Not really…" Sora scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. He felt like a loser. It seemed like everybody in the whole world liked coffee except him.

The three arrived at the modest coffee shop inside of the airport and approached the counter. A tall, lanky guy whose nametag read, "Bill" let loose a forced smile as the three teenagers reached the counter. "What can I get for you." It was more of a statement than a question. He seemed like a very disgruntled employee.

"Uhm…I've already had a huge cup of coffee this morning…So…" Selphie's voice trailed, "Could I get a twenty-ounce butterscotch Italian soda with extra whipped cream?"

Bill nodded and looked to Irvine. "Just a cup of coffee with French vanilla flavoring added…?"

"French Vanilla Frappucino alright." Once again, it was more of a statement than a question.

"Sure."

"What size." He was quite probably an angry guy, Sora decided.

Irvine glanced over to Selphie, who was gesturing that he should get, from what Sora gathered, 'The Big One'. "Twenty-ounce."

"And for you." His voice was absolutely monotone.

"Can I have a butter rum Italian soda?"

"Butter scotch alright." There was that statement-question again.

"Yep."

"What size." He hated his job, Sora was sure. The tip jar was probably empty at the end of the day and he was sure that Bill put in many long hours. Customer service in an airport was probably a pretty tough job. Sora was certain that having to deal with angry people all day would make him angry too.

Sora looked over to the green-eyed girl. She, once again, gestured in a very strange manner that he should get 'The Big One'. "Twenty-ounce, I guess…"

"Alright. Your total will be sixteen thirty-seven."

Selphie pulled a twenty from her purse and handed it to the angry man named Bill and told him to keep the change. The corner of his lips twitched upward briefly and figured that Selphie probably made his morning.

"Good morning!" a dark haired lady exclaimed, "Selphie's probably already told you guys this, but my name's Rinoa. Rinoa Leonhart. Are you boys up for some breakfast this morning?"

"I could use a bite to eat…" Sora responded, smiling coyly.

"Seeing as his breakfast is in the garbage right now…" Irvine joked, glimpsing playfully at his brother.

Sora narrowed his eyes at Irvine and noticed that Selphie was retrieving their beverages. "By the way, nice to meetchya, Rinoa."

"Yes, it's a pleasure," Irvine chimed politely.

Grasping at his tarnished crown pendant, Sora all of a sudden felt a certain nervousness building up inside of him. "Are…you gonna…ya know…keep us for a while?"

A soft smile crossed Rinoa's painted lips. "I'm hoping we can keep you forever. It all depends on you two. We'd better go say thank you and bye to Mike."

Sora expected the worst...but hoped for the best.

* * *

Their short trip to Fred Meyer on the way home had proven to be quite fruitful for the three teenagers; each walked out with one delicious item or another. They had also picked up a few bags of chips, Otter Pops, fudge bars, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, an entire box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and various groceries of the healthy sort.

As they approached the house, Sora noted a few things. For one, they would be staying in a one-story house. For two, it was canary yellow in color with white trim. Next, the lawn was in very good shape; there wasn't a single piece of crabgrass in sight. He also noticed that there was a very cliché, short, white picket fence surrounding their house. He also observed that the curtains on the inside were white and that there was a flowerbed bordering the walls of the house. It was the only house on the block that looked so…All-American.

"Welcome home, boys!" Rinoa grinned and momentarily took her hands off the wheel as she turned into the driveway.

Sora and Irvine exchanged a satisfied grin and unbuckled. Selphie smiled and waved at the new family. "I have to go home. I guess I'll see you guys around?"

"Are you sure that you can't stay for a while, Selphie?" Rinoa asked, a pout forming on her lips.

"Yep! I have some chores to do at home that I promised Mom that I'd do. But I promise that I'll come back over just as soon as I get done with those," she answered, interlacing her fingers behind her. "Anyway," she began, winking, "I'll let Axel have them for a little while." That said, Selphie turned around and began walking toward the end of the cul-de-sac.

Sora glanced at Irvine and a small smirk formed on his lips. Irvine had definitely taken a liking to Selphie. He was pouting. And that was definitely something that he could use to blackmail Irvine with at a later point in time…providing he didn't use his 'woman-charmer' on her and somehow ended up dating her.

"Bye Selphie!" Irvine shouted. Selphie turned around and waved cheerfully. A dumb grin spread across Irvine's face.

"Irvine and Selphie sitting in a tree-ouch! What was that for?" Sora rubbed his arm.

"Shut up."

Rinoa giggled and began pulling groceries out of the back of the Volvo. Both of the boys gladly helped her.

"Welcome to your new home. I hope you like it!"

Irvine paused in the doorway upon seeing the redhead lazily lounging on the velvety, forest green sectional. He received a small push from behind and ungracefully stumbled inside. He glared at Sora and briskly followed Rinoa into the kitchen.

"Why _hello _there," the redhead greeted. He presumed that this was that, 'Axel', Selphie mentioned. "And just what might that look that I received from your brother have been for?"

Sora made note of the fact that Axel probably used and entire bottle of hair-product to style his flaming red hair. His eyes were a piercing emerald and just below each of them were purplish-blue upside-down triangles tattooed on his cheeks. Axel's face was very…pretty. Sora nearly slapped his forehead…calling a guy pretty. Pssh.

The redhead wore a black Pink Floyd t-shirt and faded, loose-fitting, frayed blue jeans. Around his wrist, he wore several "Sex Bracelets" - which in teenage culture were two black 'jelly' bracelets hooked together. On his feet he wore a black pair of Vans-Sora liked Vans.

"Dunno. Probably a little jealous," Sora shrugged.

"Shut up!"

The smallest of smirks played at the corner of Axel's lips. "Jealous, huh?"

"Name's Axel, right?"He made a clicking sound with his tongue and tapped the right side of his forehead, smirking. "Got it memorized?"

Sora simply grinned and followed the other two into the kitchen to help put away groceries.

* * *

"Axel! How come ye didn't wake me up?" interrogated a sleepy child. She had just rolled out of bed and had a terrible case of bed head.

Axel threw his hands up to his shoulders, palms outward, grinning. "Your momma told me that you didn't sleep well last night because you were too excited to meet Sora and Irvine."

"Are they here? Oh me goodness! I need to be gettin' dressed!" she exclaimed, slapping her hands to her cheeks. She about-faced and sprinted down the hallway toward her bedroom, narrowly avoiding crashing into Sora. "Sorry fer that! Don't be lookin' at me yet!"

"Whoa. You'd better slow down there turbo!" Sora walked back into the living room, peering over his shoulder before taking a seat next to Axel. Looking at Axel, he wondered if all of Selphie's friends were attractive. Not that he meant attractive in a 'I want you down my pants now' manner…but more along the lines in a 'Hey! You're not fugly!' manner.

"Where'd your brother go?"

"He's in his bedroom, probably sulking."

"About what?"

"The fact that I implied that he was jealous of you."

Axel grinned and shook his head. "Between you and I, he has nothing to be jealous of here. But don't let him know it just yet…" He winked, "Gonna have some fun with that one.

Sora nodded. "So then you're dating someone?"

"I never said that, now did I?" The right side of his mouth slowly began to twist upright. Sora observed as Vanille stumbled across the hallway to the bathroom, still zipping her skirt. She slammed the door closed behind her. "Cute kid, isn't she?"

Sora nodded in agreement. "A lot cuter than what I was when I was her age. I was a little snot."

"What do you want to do today? Rinoa told me this morning that I was to be your guys' entertainment after lunch; she has to work today and promised Vanille that she could go with her."

"What does she do?"

"She manages at a restaurant. Her co-workers love it when she brings Vanille with her," he explained.

"Which restaurant?"

"Shari's. Dem and I usually go in there when we're broke and don't feel like cooking. She comps our meals."

"Who's Dem?"

"His name's Demyx. He's pretty down to earth," Axel paused, tapped his knee with his fingers. "What did you want to do today?"

Sora shrugged and looked across the room to the entertainment center. "I dunno. What's there to do?"

"A lot. How about I show you around, maybe introduce you to some of my friends?"

The bathroom door swung back open and out tumbled a fully-dressed, pink haired girl. A shy, toothy grin spread across her face as she approached the two on the couch.

"Come here, sweetie. Let me fix your hair," Axel offered. "You've gotta look your best. You're going to work with mom today…"

Vanille sat down on the floor in front of the red-haired teen. "Yep!" She looked over to Sora, gave a petite wave, curling only her fingers in. "Me name's Vanille."

"Pleased to meetchya, Vanille. I'm Sora," he grinned, returning the gesture.

The child turned her attention to the man parting her hair with his slender fingers. "Axel," she whispered, swiftly peeking at Sora. "Is Sora an' Irvine gonna be me brothers ferever?"

"Are Sora and Irvine going to be your brothers forever?" the tattooed teen corrected before flashing an ear-to-ear grin. "I have a feeling these guys are going to be around a little longer than Rox was."

"I'm hopin' so." Her attention returned to Sora, "Are yer parents in the army like my big brother before ye?"

Sora shook his head. "No."

"Em…In jail?"

"Huh-uh."

"Dead?"

Though the question was posed in an innocent manner, Sora felt slightly offended before gloom set in. With a downcast stare, he reached up and fingered the tarnished pendant dangling from his neck. "…Yeah."

"Oh."

"Why don't you go bug Irvine, squirt? Ask him if he wants to come with Sora and I to the mall."

"Right!" she exclaimed as she got up and ran back down the hallway in search of Irvine. Turning around, she waved and smiled sweetly before tripping over her own feet. She picked herself up, giggled and ran into the room next door to Sora's. There was no knocking involved.

"Sorry 'bout that."

His lips curved upward into a bright smile and slapped his hands down on his knees, enthusiastically. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, really."

There was a stillness in the air. The previous conversation had gone downhill rather quickly. Neither of the two knew what to say next. And Sora was fairly certain that Axel didn't believe a word that had just come out of his mouth. For one, there was still an awkward silence looming in the air. For two, Axel was chewing on his bottom lip. And for three, Sora had never really been a great liar. He was actually a very poor liar. Always had been. Probably always would be.

The silence, however, wasn't broken by either of the two on the couch, nor by Vanille and definitely not by the sulking Irvine. "Squall! You can't work late tonight! Please come home-I have to work late too! What kind of family are they going to think we are? Please?"

"Maybe we should get going…?" Axel suggested, making direct eye contact with Sora.

"Should I grab Irvine?"

The redhead chuckled, "Naw. He can stay here and pout. Selphie will be over within the next hour…no doubt. She'd be sad to find nobody home. I'll leave a note on the refrigerator for Rinoa."

"Squall!"

The two boys exchanged another look and nodded in unison.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! Sora?"

Sora whirled around to find the source of the squeal only to be pounced on by a fairly short, blonde girl. He stumbled backwards and Axel caught the both of them. Sora blinked twice and, upon recognition, placed his hands on her back. "Hey Naminé."

Axel gave the two a confused look. He was going to open his mouth to ask something but decided that if he listened, he'd figure out what was going on.

The girl released Sora and smiled tenderly, smoothing out her uniform. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm living here now."

"How'd you and Axel meet?"

"I was watching Vanille this morning and, low and behold, in stumbled his brother followed closely by him," Axel declared, ruffling up Sora's hair. Axel had to get a word in; he had a feeling that their conversation was going to last quite some time and he wouldn't get a word in edgewise. And that just wouldn't do.

Sora scratched the back of his head and grinned. "How's Kairi?"

Naminé giggled and pulled her braided ponytail around to the front of her shirt. "That's just like you, Sora. Asking about my cousin before asking how I'm doing." She tapped him on the nose and smiled sincerely. "She misses you. A lot."

Sora burst out in a fit of nervous laughter, rubbing the back of his neck. "How are _you_, then, Naminé?"

"That's better!" she exclaimed and continued, "I'm well, thank you! But I'd be better if you would've sent me more than a letter here and a letter there. And a phone call would've been nice!"

"Sorry about that. My last place wouldn't let me make any phone calls."

"Were your grades better, at least?"

Sora averted his gaze and suddenly found the menus behind Naminé very intriguing. They were colorful. And there was a stack of crayons in front of them and napkins next to those. Kids menus sat to the side and there were printouts hanging up, colored by small children. They'd grow up to be fantastic artists!

"I'll take that as a 'Nope!'." She briefly halted before looking as if something had dawned on her. "Oh! I bet you guys came in here to sit down, huh?"

"Kind of. But you two are _more _than welcome to continue talking about your life stories while my stomach gently rumbles," Axel sarcastically articulated.

"Oops. Sorry, Axy." That said, she snatched up two menus and led them to a table fairly close to where they had just been talking. "I'd better get back to work! I'll call your house tonight to talk to you!"

"But…" Sora started, "You don't exactly have my number…"

"I know Rinoa very well! I used to baby-sit for her. I have her number. So…Enjoy your meals! Joshua should be right with you," she winked and skipped back up to the front of the restaurant, her braid flopping from side-to-side behind her.

Axel looked Sora in the eye and grinned. "So…looks like you know someone, huh?"

Sora nodded, smiling dumbly. "Goldenrod's so big…I'm surprised that we even crossed paths."

"And you must've had something going on with Kairi?" the redhead interrogated, tapping his fingers on the table in an impatient fashion. "And, by the way, we're ordering onion rings for an appetizer."

Sora felt heat building up in his cheeks; he found everything on the menu looking mighty delicious. He looked back up and found an expectant pair of eyes boring holes in his skull; he sighed. He couldn't win. "I kind of had this crush thing on her. And I've known her most of my life. I grew up in Cherry Grove until…well…stuff happened."

"…And…?"

"Well…She's my best friend in the whole world. And…like I said. I really liked her."

"Liked?"

"…"

"Or liked as in you still like her…?" Axel rested his chin in his hand, elbow propped up on the table.

"I'd rather not say…"

"So…you've got the hots for her then?"

Sora fiddled with his fingers for a moment and then gazed back into green eyes. "It's more than just having the hots for her. I care for her more than anyone in the entire world. I would give my life for her. She's always been there when I needed her. She always tried to take the fall for me whenever I would get into any sort of trouble." He explained before continuing, "We'd actually end up in trouble together more often than not."

"I see. So you love her then?"

"That's the thing. I'm kind of…unsure about my feelings for her right now…I mean, of course I love her…but I don't know if I love her like _that_. But I'm pretty sure that I want to spend my life with her…but I can't exactly do that because I'm stuck in this stupid foster care system and…yeah. I just need time to figure things out and stuff…"

Much to Sora's displeasure, Axel began laughing. Not just chuckling or snickering. It was a full-blown, if he were standing up, he'd be bent over with his stomach cramping kind of laugh. And this definitely offended Sora in more ways than one. He had practically just spilled his guts out on the table for this guy to see…

"Sorry…I just have a friend that's in a _very _similar predicament right now. And I just think it's funny that neither of you tell the girl how you feel. You'd be better off, ya know?"

"Like _you _should be one talking!" Naminé sat down in the booth next to Sora and smiled. She no longer was wearing her red uniform t-shirt. She was carrying it bunched up along with her black half-apron.

"Shut your mouth," the redhead snapped, glaring venom-covered daggers at the younger girl.

"Don't make me tell on you to Demyx! He'll beat you up!"

"As if that pansy could touch me. Now shut your mouth."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." She rolled her eyes and redirected her interest to the boy sitting next to her. "My boss sent me on my half-hour lunch break. I told him about you. He says he'll discount your meal," she glimpsed at a still fuming Axel and smiled sweetly. "It's not like I actually said anything, Axel."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" he grumbled. "Where's our server?"

Naminé looked around and frowned. "You mean, nobody's been over to see you yet?"

"Huh-uh," Sora added, shaking his head for emphasis.

"I'll take care of _that_!" she got up from where she had just been seated and sauntered away, a dark smile upon her face.

"Here's some advice, Sora," Axel began in a whisper, "Don't get on Naminé's bad side."

The other teen chuckled and nodded. "I've seen the results of her anger…She has quite the temper…"

"But only if you've disrespected her or her family or friends…" Axel added, "It's nice to have her on your side. She's the only cheerleader I like."

"She's a cheerleader?" Sora questioned, making sure that he had heard correctly.

"Yeah. She made the varsity team her freshmen year. She's very passionate about what she does. Much cooler than any other cheerleader that I've ever met. How do you know her, anyway?"

Before Sora could respond, they found Naminé quickly approaching the table, a very tall server's wrist in her hand. "This is _Joshua_. _He'll _be your _server _today…He _won't _be dumping ice on bussers in the back of the restaurant. Feel free to leave him a crummy tip. You've been here a good _ten _minutes and haven't even been served a beverage." The blonde quickly turned to Joshua and sent him a mega-uber-ultra-death-glare. Through gritted teeth, she hissed, "Joshua _will _get you _everything _you need. And he will have a _stern-talking to _with the boss after you guys hit the road." She turned back to her friends and smiled again. "I have to go and have a little chit-chat with a certain _somebody_. Sorry I'm not spending my break with you guys and I have to spend it in the office." With one more mega-uber-ultra-death-glare shot at poor Joshua, she did a complete one-eighty and marched herself to the back of the restaurant.

"Hi. My name's-"

"Joshua. Yeah we know. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he made the same finger-tapping motion that he had when he and Sora had introduced themselves and smirked. "And I'll take a Shirley Temple, please."

"Uh…I guess I'll have the same?"

* * *

It was excruciatingly warm outside. It was very nice. An excellent change from Spokane, Washington. It was always very cold there. In comparison, anyway.

"Want some ice cream?"

The Sora's blue eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. "I would _love _ice cream."

"Baskin Robbins alright?"

"That would be more than alright."

"Good. There's someone else that you should meet. He works there."

Sora pondered for a moment. "Demyx?"

Axel shook his head, "He works at Hollywood Video. Any other guesses?"

He shook his head and sighed. "I've never been really good at guessing games."

"Riku. Riku and Roxas are both working right now."

"Who's Roxas?"

The redhead chuckled momentarily, as if some inside joke crossed his mind, before replying, "He's the little punk that used to live with Rinoa and Squall. He's an interesting character."

"He's a punk…?" Immediately, Sora imagined this 'Roxas' guy dressed in a black shirt, sleeves missing, chains around his neck, holey, oversized jeans, mirrored sunglasses, butterfly knife in hand...

"Not really."

"Oh." His imagination did like to run a little wild sometimes. "Then…what is he?"

"Nice kid. Still comes by to visit Vanille whenever he isn't with the choir."

"So his parents were in the military?"

"Father was. His mother passed away when he was much, much younger," Axel explained. "Don't bring it up." He pulled the door open.

"I wasn't planning on it. Not my business," Sora mumbled, walking through and into the foyer.

"Hi. Welcome to Baskin Robbins," a silver-haired guy smiled. But, upon seeing the redhead, his smile dimmed slightly. "Oh. It's just _you_, Ax." His gaze shifted from Axel and to his right into the office. "You gonna buy anything today or are ya just here to distract Roxas from work?"

"Hey, hey now, Riku. Don't be rude," he gestured to Sora. "It's not just me today."

"Oh. _Oh_. Irvine or Sora?"

"I'm Sora."

"Pleased to meet you. Vanille's talked about wanting to meet you a lot." He leaned over the glass counter and smirked. "You play any sports?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. I play soccer."

Riku quirked his eyebrow. "You play for any school teams?"

Sora shook his head. "Not recently. Foster parents generally don't pay for extras. They usually can't afford many extras."

"You should tryout this year. Rinoa and Squall would be more than happy to enroll you into sports," he explained, looking over to the redhead. "That punk plays basketball."

"Do _you _play any sports?" Sora asked, leaning forward, fingers intertwined behind him.

"Why yes he does…" Axel intervened, not allowing Riku to answer for himself. "He plays soccer and tennis…"

"Let me grab Roxas," the teal-eyed teen grumbled, disappearing back into the office-looking area. He emerged almost as quickly as he had gone back there, a dishwater blonde following closely behind.

"Hey."

"Hey Rox!" Axel exclaimed, a wide, very bright smile crossing his lips. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," he replied, quickly spotting Sora in the room. He beamed, "You new around here?"

"Yeah," he answered, sticking his hands into his pockets.

"He's the Leonhart's new kid. Roxas, Sora. Sora, Roxas," Axel introduced, patting Sora on the back.

"The Squall and Rinoa are very nice. You'll like living with them."

"That's what everyone keeps on saying." Sora took one had out of his pocket and scratched his nose.

"She grew up in Japan," Riku added, adjusting his visor. "And her husband, Squall, works all the time. He's quiet...not usually very nice."

"I gathered that much…" Sora murmured, exchanging looks with the redhead.

"He's not that bad," Roxas chided, scowling. "He's nice. Just doesn't like Riku very much."

"Why doesn't he like Riku?" Sora questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Roxas. The blonde, in return, gestured he should ask Riku himself.

When Sora's eyes met Riku's, the taller of the two averted his gaze, attention moving to the ice cream just behind the glass. "No reason…really. Just doesn't."

Axel and Roxas rolled their eyes in unison; the redhead crossed his arms in irritation. Sora, slightly confused, decided to shrug the whole thing off and stare lustfully at the ice cream. It was terribly depressing that such a thin piece of glass could separate him from the creamy treats that sat merely inches away from his face…

"Roxas, go on your ten so I can go home. And Sora? What kind of ice cream do you want?"

Axel glanced down at the kneeling Sora whose hands were pressed to the glass case and looked back up to Riku. "You promise not to molest him while we're gone?"

Red in the face, the now embarrassed employee glared daggers at his neighbor. "Just leave."

"Not until you promise to keep your hands to yourself…"

"Leave him alone, Ax."

"Pssh…You're no fun, Roxas," he responded, making eye contact with his scowling best friend. "You gonna be alright alone for a few minutes, Sora?"

Sora simply nodded, licking his lips. "Yeah. Go have fun. I'll see you in ten."

As the blonde and redhead exited the premises, Riku quietly cleared his throat and looked down at the drooling teen. "Sora?"

"Hmm?" He was rather preoccupied, staring at the creamy treats.

"Don't listen to Axel. He's…err…Shouldn't be talking. He's definitely not one to be talking."

That said, Sora glanced up, attention redirected from the ice cream to Riku. A brilliant smile made its way onto his visage. "Hey. Don't worry about it. I'm not in the least bit weirded out by…"

"By what?"

Sora stood back up from his kneeling position, the pendant around his neck making itself noticeable. The brilliant smile was replaced with a goofy grin. "You know…Gay?"

The shining object caught the ice cream man's eye.

Puzzled by Riku's stare, Sora sighed. "Did I offend you?"

"What was that?" he asked, head jerking up.

Sora softly chuckled. "I said that I'm not all creeped out by the gay thing."

Riku's jaw dropped ever so slightly. Was he _that _obvious?

As if reading his mind, Sora waved his hands in the air and shook his head. "You're not obvious at all. Kay? It was your comment about Axel not being one to talk that tied up loose ends." Sora paused for a moment, scratching his head. "Am I wrong? I mean…Err…" He probably sounded stupid. Had to just spit it out. "Axel _is _gay, right? His face lit up like a flashlight when he saw Roxas."

The older male's shoulders drooped as he let out a heavy sigh. "Not my place to say anything about him."

"Are you, though?" Sora pressed, hands on his hips.

"Are _you_?"

Sora shrugged. "Dunno."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sora's cheeks darkened and, instinctively, he grabbed at his pendant. "I'd rather not say. Not like I know you or anything. Why should I tell you everything about myself?"

The corner of Riku's lip twisted upward into a smirk. "Well, putting all of the loose ends together, I'd take it that you're gay."

"How did you come up with that?" he demanded, frowning.

"A straight man would deny he's gay."

"According to your logic then, you're gay too."

Riku shrugged. "Maybe I am."

For some odd reason, he was feeling tiny butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Sora couldn't help but smile. He felt silly, smiling at nothing. His hand made its way back up to the tarnished pendant and he stood there, gazing into Riku's aqua eyes.

"So what kind of ice cream are you after? My treat. Get whatever you'd like."

"Cookies 'n Cream!" Sora exclaimed, readdressing the creamy treats setting in front of him.

"Cookies 'n Cream?" he confirmed, taking his scoop out from the well of water. Sora nodded, staring at the ice cream that Riku was pulling out from the tub. "How hungry are you?"

"I won't lie. I'm not hungry in the least bit. But when it comes to creamy delights, I can eat until I upchuck."

Riku smiled to himself and put the ice cream into the large, paper bowl. "I'll keep that in mind."

"What do you do for fun, Riku?"

"Roxas and I get together."

"Are you two…dating?" he inquired, cocking his head to the left.

The silver-haired teen chuckled and shook his head. "No. One of my friends called dibs."

"Axel?"

"Can't tell."

"Well…What do you guys do?"

"Play videogames mostly."

"What games do you play?" Sora questioned as Riku passed the paper bowl over the counter. He eagerly took a hold of the ice cream and scooped up a spoonful.

"I don't know. Depends. Sometimes we play Mario Party other times Golden Eye 007...Depends on whether or not he's staying the night."

"What else do you guys do?"

He shrugged. "Different things. We're both part of the jazz choir at school."

"So you sing then?"

"Yeah."

Sora grinned, "You really _are _gay, aren't you?"

"You wanna make something of it?" Riku chuckled, shaking his fist in the air.

"Do these shorts make my butt look big?"

"Very."

Sora laughed and took another bite of the already half-eaten ice cream. "So what are you doing after work?"

"I don't know. Don't have any plans."

"You want to hang out later?"

"Hang out with the gay boy, huh?" Riku replied, glancing out into the parking lot. The pair of absent teens were making their way back.

"Gay doesn't change who you are, you know."

"Tell my dad that…"

Sora looked up from what little remained of his creamy delights. "Huh?"

The teen opposite him shook his head, sad smile upon his lips. "Nothing."

Shrugging it off, Sora scraped the bottom of the ice cream dish and sighed. He had already consumed all of the contents. He glanced up toward the glass door and noticed that both Roxas and Axel were walking into the foyer. It was nearly time to go.

"About time you two get back," Riku teased. "You're five minutes late."

Sora looked back up to his new friend, smiling. "Thanks for the ice cream, Riku."

"No prob, Sora." After a brief pause, he peered over to the two teens talking amongst themselves and cleared his throat. "Hey Axel? Mind if I commandeer Sora from you for the rest of the afternoon?"

"That's not for me to decide," he answered, glancing down to Roxas. "Need company?"

"Not really," the blonde replied. "But if you don't want to go bother Demyx, I guess you can irritate me until Olette gets here."

"Guess that settles it then," Riku stated, removing his visor. "Axel will distract Roxas from work and I'll show Sora my mad soccer skills."

Sora flashed his pearly whites. "Yeah right! I bet I'm twice as good with a soccer ball than you are!"

"And I bet Riku's better with balls than you are," Roxas threw in, placing his visor back on.

"And you'd know how…?" Axel taunted, winking.

The blonde sent a smirk back in the redhead's general direction. "Oh. You know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just the plot.

**Warning:** his story may contain dramatic 90's themes, pinball wizards, shonen-ai and teenagers with a penchant for the dramatic. If you have consumed any of the above and have experienced symptoms of severe giggling, uncontrollable fangirl attacks or trouble with nostalgia due to boy band references, please contact Jayden Winters immediately via the shiny button at the bottom of the page.

-.X.-

**Summertime**

-.X.-**  
**

It was quite possible that Sora Strife, merely sixteen years of age, was facing the toughest challenge of his life. And Riku was _totally _owning him.

Said brunette glanced up at Riku from his position on the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table. He narrowed his eyes as Riku carefully put yet _another _piece where it was to be placed. "Jerk."

A small smirk crossed Riku's lips as he cast his gaze down upon Sora from the forest green couch. "You don't do puzzles very often, do you?"

"Not ones that come with no box or picture! Are you sure all of the pieces are even here?" he grumbled, glaring daggers at the mostly unfinished puzzle.

Riku shrugged. "Dunno. I picked it up at a yard sale for twenty-five cents."

Sora merely gaped at his newfound friend. He was absolutely _not _going to dignify that with a response. Instead, he focused hard on trying to locate at least one piece that would fit somewhere. He couldn't even tell what the picture was yet; there was blue and there was black and something that looked kind of like it could be seaweed or some sort of vegetation...Or was that a fence? "Hey Riku?"

"Hmm?" he responded, fingering through the large pile of blue pieces, which, to Sora, all looked the same.

"What's it like being gay?"

At this remark, Riku quirked an eyebrow and looked down to Sora. "What's it like being straight?"

"I asked you first," Sora retorted, crossing his arms. "So, what's it like being gay?"

"Uh, I guess it's no different than being straight? I don't know how to explain it."

"Will you try to? I've always been curious. You're the first gay man I've ever met _and _talked to," he commented, thumbing through a rather large pile of blue puzzle pieces.

Riku heavily exhaled. The hell was he going to explain this…? "I guess it's kind of like when you talk to a cute girl you like, only for me it's a guy I like and you kind of get butterflies in your stomach and, uh…" he shrugged and interlocked another two puzzle pieces. "I like penis?"

Sora snickered and shook his head. "You're a goober."

"Well, for asking me a question like that, you're Soratarded!" Riku deadpanned, large grin across his face.

"Whatever," Sora paused for a brief moment after drawing out his voice, "Silvie Locks!"

"You aren't the brightest crayon in the box, are you?" Laughter filled Riku's voice, a grin widespread across his face. Sora paused for the briefest of moments, feeling a certain familiarity emanating from the smallest of gestures before brushing it off as nothing.

"I thought it was clever…" Sora pouted, sticking his bottom lip out for emphasis. "And who said I was a crayon? I've always liked to think of myself as a marker. I like to leave marks on people!"

Again, a chortle erupted from the depths of Riku's throat, though he was trying exceedingly hard to suppress his perverse smile. "That could be taken the wrong way, you know."

Blush crept across Sora's face as the realization of what he had said dawned on him. A goofy smile crossed his lips and he responded, "You know what I mean."

Riku skillfully joined together two more pieces and Sora had all but given up on the damned thing. How did Riku find putting Humpty Dumpty back together again an entertaining task? Next the boy would be having Sora do one of those 3-D Enterprise puzzles!

"What are you doing for dinner tonight?"

Sora shrugged and looked up at the clock, mounted above the window. "I was thinking about, you know, staying here and getting to know my foster family a little bit but, uh, what did you have in mind?"

"Was that the tone of sarcasm I heard in your voice?" He quirked an eyebrow, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"_No_. Not at _all_. Sarcasm? Me? Nah."

Riku laughed out loud and united yet another two pieces. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Putting together my room, I think."

"You're not going to do that today?"

Sora looked at the boy opposite him like he had just fallen out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down. "I'm hanging out with you."

"Want some help? We don't have to do this puzzle if you don't want to." It wasn't like Sora was making any progress anyway.

Sorae pondered this for just a moment before nodding with vigor. "Yes. I think I want some help with it. Not like I've put together more than ten or fifteen of these pieces anyway."

"If that," Riku chimed, teasing smile on his lips.

"I totally schooled you with the soccer ball. And you know it."

"What_ever_. I just went easy on you. I was…gauging your skills."

"Yeah right. And I'm a monkey's uncle," Sora retorted zealously, finally finding another piece to lock into place. "Yes! I got one!"

"And I've got seventy! Woohoo!"

"Shut up. I'm rather proud of my eleven to sixteen pieces, thank you very much," said Sora and he folded his arms.

"You're welcome."

Sora eyed Riku and forcefully exhaled, shoulders drastically drooping. "Let's do something else."

"Like unpack your suitcase?"

"Sure." Sora gazed at the mostly incomplete puzzle and grumbled, "Are we _really _going to finish that?"

Riku shook his head, "Probably not. I never do. There always seem to be missing pieces…"

"There's a reason it was only twenty-five cents," the shorter of the two scoffed and motioned to get up. "Do you think it'd be alright if I got a glass of milk…?"

"I'd imagine as much. Roxas and I used to raid the frig on a daily basis."

Sora managed to make it to his feet and a couple steps toward the kitchen before he glanced over his shoulder to the teen sitting on the couch. "You sure there's nothing between you and Roxas?"

"We were just friends," he affirmed, carefully placing the pieces back into the sandwich baggie. "You really think I'd date someone like Roxas?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora frowned, folding his arms together for some unknown reason. "You know we-" He didn't quite get the next words out of his mouth, stopped himself in his tracks. Where had _that _thought come from?

Riku gave the boy a bewildered look, eyebrows knitting together. "You what?"

Sora shrugged and brightly smiled, "Nothing. Sorry about that. Sometimes I have memory problems. No biggie, alright?"

Riku worriedly eyed the boy and apprehensively nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

"Hey, who's this?"

Sora looked over to Riku and his gaze immediately fell downward to the picture frame in his hands. He smiled fondly and leaned on Riku, just a little. "This is my best friend. Her name is Kairi. She's Naminé's cousin."

"She's cute."

"Hey, hey now," Sora playfully started, ear-to-ear grin pasted on his face. "She's my girl."

Riku quirked a curious eyebrow and glanced back down to the picture of the redhead whom of which clad in a long, black prom dress. "Your girl, huh? So you're taken then?"

"Kinda," Sora responded nostalgically; he felt his hand reach up for the pendant and stopped himself midway. That would be a rather girly thing for him to do…But hadn't he done it earlier anyway? And why did it matter?

"Kinda?"

Sora shook his head and smiled, "Nothing. It's…"

"Private? Personal? None of my _Bisquick_?"

"No! It's just…it's stupid."

"You don't have to tell me. It's alright. You're uncomfortable with it."

Sora simply nodded and shifted uncomfortably. Riku set the first of the photographs on the bed behind him and picked up another out of the suitcase. "That's me, Kai, Wakka and Tidus on Halloween last year."

"You guys look like you're good friends," he softly said, examining each costume. "Kairi was Alice and you were the Cheshire Cat, right?"

Sora nodded. "Wakka was the White Rabbit and Tidus was," he paused, snickering, "The Queen of Hearts."

"What possessed him to-"

"We drew names out of a hat and Wakka originally actually had the Queen…but being the captain of the football team, he couldn't exactly go parading around campus is a dress and certainly not a dress like _that _one. Anyway, Tidus and I both volunteered to trade him costumes. Long story short, Tidus almost insisted that he dressed up as the Queen and I got to keep my costume."

"Is he-?"

"Gay? No. Last I heard he's dating a dancer girl named Yuna. She's supposed to be lead alto/soprano in the jazz choir or something like that. She's pretty hot."

"Ah."

"No comment?" Sora asked, again shifting his weight onto Riku's side.

Riku simply shook his head and repeated his picture-pulling process. "Is this Naminé?"

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. Just before we got on Viper. She nearly hyperventilated before we even got on the ride."

"And this is Kairi, Tidus and you with her?"

"Yeah. Wakka was taking the picture but still wanted to be in it; he made it a point to get a part of his finger in there as proof he was there."

Riku shook his head and mumbled something about how Demyx would totally do that and placed it behind him. Sora watched curiously as Riku took out the second-to-last picture he possessed (in frame) and immediately averted his gaze, staring at his socks. Riku's breath caught in his throat as he nearly dropped the frame upon seeing the _Polaroid. _

"Yeah…That one's a little personal." Sora said a little wryly, continuing to stare at his socks, "My first memory, you know."

"She's a little cutie," replied Riku, completely regaining his composure while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Sora raised his fist to his mouth and coughed, the smallest of smiles prickling at his lips, "Er…Riku. She's like...nine or ten."

Riku laughed and stared down at the picture in the ornately decorated picture frame; a small smile tugged at his lips. The picture was, unbeknownst to Riku, Sora's favorite out of a small series of photographs taken when he was in the hospital on his ninth birthday. "So why did you keep this?" Riku's eyebrows crept up his forehead as he continued to stare at the photograph.

"Yeah," Sora replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "It's kinda funny. Just my first memory and it's special because of it...And I remember how special she made me feel, how good I felt when I was in her arms…" Sora chuckled wryly, "But I can't remember her name."

"So your heart was taken by this little kid, then, huh?"

"Pssh! No! I was like, nine."

"Do you think you'll ever meet her again?" Riku licked his lips and glanced over to Sora.

"I guess so. It's kind of silly though."

"Why is it silly?"

"I don't know. It's not like it'll ever actually happen," Sora replied.

"Are you sure she was a girl?" Riku suggested, "I mean look! She's wearing boys' clothes."

"...Well...no but...why would a boy kiss me?"

Riku shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe she was actually a he. If she turned out to be a he and you met up again, what would you do?"

"I don't know...I just don't feel that way about penis, you know?" Sora laughed and then continued, "Not to say that I'm not open to the idea! I mean, I did kind of..."

"What?"

"No...it's stupid..." Sora mumbled, staring at the picture.

"Come on," Riku persuaded, "You were a kid. You did kind of what?"

"...Promise myself to her."

Riku merely chuckled and set the photograph down behind him, pulling out the last one. It was a formal picture of Sora, Kairi, Wakka, Naminé, Tidus, a girl, a guy that looked kind of like Wakka and another girl. "Who are all these people?"

Sora burst into a grin. "Well, the girl with Tidus is named Yuna. I told you about her. She's the smoking hot dancer chick that I don't really know all that well. And the guy that looks like Wakka is named Chappu; that's his younger brother. The girl with Chappu? That's Lulu. She's kind of…weird. Rumor has it she's into black magic and Ouija boards and all that stuff. There's nothing wrong with that, of course!" By this time, Sora was flailing his arms around in the air and talking so fast, Riku barely caught a word he was saying.

Riku smiled, nodded and placed the picture behind him on top of all the others. "How long did you live with these guys?"

"A couple years or so. My foster family kept us for quite some time. These guys were my friends while I was there. Before them, I didn't really have any. I kind of kept to myself, you know? I didn't like getting attached to people and having to leave them, never to hear from them again. That Tidus and Kairi though," Sora paused, laughing, "They never let me eat lunch alone. I used to try and hide from them…but they always found me. After a month or so, I finally gave up and started to willingly eat with them.

"But you didn't ask for my life story, so I'm not going to give it to you!" Sora exclaimed, cheery tone apparent in his voice. "But I'll tell you what, since I was thirteen, I've grown up a bit and I do try to make friends wherever I go."

"Explains why you're so happy. Most of the foster kids that've come through here…they haven't all been bright balls of sunshine, you know."

"Most foster kids that I know don't try to make the best of what they can either," said Irvine, popping his head in the room. "Just making sure Sora hasn't molested you, Riku. He's been known to randomly-"

"No!" Sora yelled, a pout forming on his lips. "That's _you_! And just how long have you been eavesdropping? Hmm?"

"Not for too long," he replied, stepping into the room, closing the door behind him. Irvine eyed Riku (suspiciously at first) before a creeptastic smile crawled onto his face.

Sora frowned at his older sibling. "Why are you looking at Riku like that?"

"Mind if I talk to Riku in private, for a second?"

"I guess not…" and Sora got up, leaving the two alone in the bedroom.

Or so they thought.

After Sora closed the door, he began to walk down the carpeted hallway. As soon as he felt that they thought he was gone, he tip-toed back up to his bedroom door and pressed his ear to it.

"-best memory. Sometimes it's fuzzy and he can't remember what happened twenty minutes beforehand. Other times, well," Irvine paused and Sora imagined his brother scratching the back of his neck or something to that effect. He usually did that when he was nervous or uncomfortable-and that wasn't really all that often. "He says stuff that doesn't really make sense. A couple foster families back, well, they took him in to see a psychiatrist-" Why the heck was Irvine telling Riku all of this? Was he trying to prevent his younger brother from making friends? Sora's eyebrows knitted together and he pressed his ear closer to the door. "-had memory loss."

"Oh." Sora bit his lip. The tone of Riku's voice seemed disapproving, disappointed and something unhappy.

"We were in a car accident when we were young-the night before Sora's ninth birthday. Both of our parents died and he and I were taken to the hospital. When he woke up the next day, he had amnesia. He doesn't remember anything before the accident. He doesn't even remember the accident."

"That might be a good thing though, right? I mean, the not remembering the accident, of course."

Irvine was quiet for a moment; Sora reached for his pendant and drew in a deep breath. What was he going to say next? He didn't want Riku to pity him. That would just be ridiculous. He didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him; he had a pretty decent life. There was absolutely no reason for anyone to feel bad for him. After all, he didn't remember what it was like to live in a stable home. If anything, Irvine should be sympathized with, not Sora. He remembered the accident, their mother's cries of terror, what it was like to live with a permanent family…He had to deal with loss. Sora, simply put, did not.

Sora heard his brother release a heavy sigh. "Subconsciously, I believe that he _does _remember though."

"Why is that?"

"Nightmares. Night terrors. From time to time, he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, sweating. Cries in his sleep almost every night. He doesn't like long road trips either and refuses to get in the car when it's raining. Doesn't like rain period. Depresses the heck out of him."

Great. Good going, Irvine. Now he sounded like a real winner. Sora cried and was terrified of cars. That scored points right there. Bet Riku really wanted to hang out now. Sora rolled his eyes and released the pendant, stuffing his hand into his pocket. He took his ear away from the door for a moment and resituated himself into a more comfortable position before he put his ear back against the wood. And he waited.

For a long time, both of the men in Sora's bedroom were quiet. Sora was growing anxious. The silence was driving him mad. Sora chewed on his bottom lip, played with lint in his pocket and stared at the pattern on the wood. Time was going by so slow. He could only imagine how disgusted Riku might've been.

Then again-he _was _gay, right? And gay men were supposed to be more like women and _sensitive_, right? But that would only mean that he was feeling pity for Sora-which would, in Sora's opinion, be much worse than being thought of as some sort of weakling or something to that effect.

"Well, sounds like he needs a friend."

Did Sora hear that right?

"Yeah. He doesn't really have very many. The ones you saw in those pictures, they are his only friends. He could use someone like you. He needs someone."

Sora could hear the smile in his brother's voice. There was a certain softness there-the kind that only came when he was talking about Sora in a serious manner. A small smile crept onto his lips. What was he thinking? Irvine trying to lose him friends before he made them? Pshaw. That was a silly, paranoid notion. He was trying to help. That was all.

"Maybe I can be that someone, huh?"

For some very strange reason, dinosaurs began frolicking through the meadows of Sora's stomach as those words came out of his friend's mouth. Blush crept onto his cheeks and he shook his head. Riku didn't mean it like _that_. He simply was talking about being that someone that could help. Besides, hadn't they just discussed Sora's sexuality? He was straight, right? For the most part?

Breathe. He had to breathe. It was vital that he breathe. Sora drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. He had to calm down and his heart needed to stop fluttering and those _goddamned dinosaurs _needed to _stop _frolicking; it was making him nauseous.

And he fell forward, face first on the ground. He looked up, swallowed the thick ball of "uh-oh" and flashed a goofy grin at his brother (who looked rather indignant) and snickering friend.

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax. What're ya gonna do for an encore? Gargle peanut butter?"

A nervous chortle escaped from Sora's throat. If Riku didn't think he was a loser before, he most certainly did now. And judging by his commentary, mad laughter and the accusatory

* * *

Dinner was incredibly eventful for several reasons. Rinoa had called around five-thirty and informed Riku (who had answered the phone) that Squall, indeed, had to work late and that she and Vanille wouldn't be home until ten or eleven. She also instructed Riku to invite some people over for a welcome to the neighborhood party and to order pizza; her top-secret pizza party money was in the ugly cookie jar on top of the refrigerator behind the cute one. Or something like that.

Sora grinned as Riku conversed with Axel, handset held between his shoulder and ear. It was rather entertaining to see him gesture as he spoke; some of the expressions on his face were priceless. Occasionally, Riku glanced over at Sora and small yet unreadable smiles would cross his lips.

As Riku moved toward the open window, he noticed something move in the azalea bushes just outside. Frowning, he sat up straighter and watched as gloved fingers made their way onto the windowsill. Blonde hair slowly came into view and shortly thereafter, an entire face appeared. Sora opened his mouth to say something to Riku but the blonde pressed a gloved finger to his upturned lips.

Riku laughed out loud and shook his head before making eye contact with Sora. An ear-to-ear smile made its way onto Sora's lips as he mouthed the question "What?". Riku held up a finger to Sora, indicating that he'd let him in on whatever was so funny momentarily. Sora's eyes darted back to the window barely in the nick of time to see the blonde acrobatically leap through the air and knock Riku down.

The phone went flying through the air and was caught by a rather conveniently placed Selphie. She smiled at Riku and winked at the blonde. "Heya Ax. What's up?"

"Damn it, Demyx! Why the hell can't you enter through the door like _normal _people?"

The blonde, apparently named Demyx, got back onto his feet and smoothed out his clothes. "Life's too short to be what you classify as 'normal'. And besides, it wouldn't be _nearly _as interesting without me, now would it?"

"No," Riku responded, picking himself up, "But it'd be a whole hellova lot-"

"Wait a sec…You must be Roxas!" he chuckled to himself and shook his head, cutting Riku off mid-sentence. "Just kidding. You're Sora, right? Naminé's told me all about you," Demyx grinned, "And how much you look like her little lover-boy, Roxas. I'm Demyx, uber sexy bassist extraordinaire, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you," Sora said, lifting himself up off of the couch. "I like your shirt."

"Thanks. Made it myself."

"No way! Oh my gosh. You're _not _serious, are you?" Selphie burst out, hand flying up to her mouth. "That _sucks_. Don't worry. I won't say anything. No. Ax, you can trust me. I understand you haven't told anyone. I won't say-"

Riku quirked an eyebrow in Selphie's general direction. In return, she waved her hand in the air and shook her head. Selphie turned a complete one-eighty and headed down the hallway toward Irvine's room. Demyx and Riku exchanged knowing looks before acknowledging Sora's confused expression.

"Er…it's nothing really," Riku murmured.

"Nothing?" Demyx repeated incredulously. "If this is about what I think it is-"

"Shut up," Riku snapped, "Really Demyx. Just shut it."

Sora looked from Riku to Demyx and back to Riku. Both looked ready to jump down the others' throat. "Uh…"

"But-"

"No, really," Sora suddenly spoke, "It's okay. It's none of my beeswax. And if Axel hasn't told us what's up, he obviously doesn't want us to know. Anyway, it's not like I really know you guys. If he doesn't want _you _to know, he definitely doesn't want _me _to know."

"Come on. It'll come out sooner or later anyway…" Demyx protested, crossing his arms.

"If you guys want to talk about it," Sora began, an edge in his tone, "I'll leave the room. Just give me the word."

"No. It's okay Sora. _Demyx _is going to shut his mouth, aren't you, _Demyx_?"

Selphie made her way back out into the living room, a furious look upon her visage. "This _can't _be happening. While I was on the phone with Axel, he put me on hold, right? It was Rox. And it turns out he's now _officially _dating Nami. I mean, it's not a _bad _thing, really. But she _knows _how Axel feels about _him_! Why would she _do that_?"

"Hey now, Selph! She's my little sister. Watch what you say about her," Demyx muttered, unfolding his arms.

"Selphie!" Riku groaned. "You have _such _a big mouth!"

"And that's completely beside the point! You, Selphie, of all _people _should know that Nami can't say no," the blonde sneered, taking a step toward her.

"Demyx, shut your mouth," Selphie retorted, placing her hands on her hips. "I know that."

"And you know just as well as I do, Selphie, that Naminé's had a crush on Roxas since forever. Axel should've said something," Demyx continued, gesticulating as he talked.

"Hey guys," Sora quietly said.

"Yeah, Axel should've said something," Riku agreed, taking a step in Demyx's direction, "But he didn't want to screw up their relationship either."

"Hey, uh, guys?" Sora repeated, still somewhat quietly.

"Yeah!" Selphie agreed, her lips turning upward in a smirk.

"Ahem…guys? Will you just listen for a moment?" Nobody seemed to hear Sora seeing as they carried on with their conversation. Sighing, his shoulders drooped slightly and he began walking over toward the window in which Demyx had entered. He stared outside and watched as the tall teen walked up the pathway to the house. Turning back to the others, Sora cleared his throat rather loudly and crossed his arms.

Again, no acknowledgement of his presence. The three others continued to throw blame in every which direction, Demyx now determined that it was Roxas' fault while Selphie placed the blame on Axel.

Sora made his way across the room, finally giving up on any glimmering hope that he would catch anyone's attention without either yelling or dressing up in a French maid's outfit and parading around the living room. He opened the front door and stepped outside just in time to meet Axel as he ascended the porch steps. Closing the door, quietly, Sora looked into the teen's eyes and smiled sadly. "Hey."

"What's up?" the redhead replied scratching his arm.

"You don't want to go in there right now."

"Why's that?" And realization dawned on him and he groaned. "Selphie's the last person I should've told."

Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Anything I can do for you?"

The redhead shook his head before his eyes met Sora's. "Nah. I'm fine, really. Knew it was going to happen anyway. Told me so earlier while he was on break."

"Want to take a walk or something?" Sora questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

Axel's eyes fell on the front door and darted back to Sora. "Won't they wonder where you are?"

"No. They're playing the blame game. They won't notice that I'm gone for fifteen minutes or so."

"It's _my _fault, you know?"

"Kinda," Sora quietly replied as they made their way to the gate. "But, you know, Naminé knew how much you liked Roxas."

"But she's also liked Roxas for a very long time. And he's liked her."

Sora stopped, just outside the gate, and looked at Axel. "It's not really anything you can blame anyone for, Axel. You can blame yourself for not saying anything to Roxas…but if he had a crush on Naminé, then that could've screwed up your relationship. You can blame Naminé for saying yes to Roxas, but what good would that do? He'd be depressed, she'd be depressed and you'd be depressed to see your friends like that. If he and Nam are meant to be, then you'll find someone else. If you and he are meant to be, she'll find someone else."

Axel looked as if he were contemplating what Sora was saying. After a few minutes, he nodded and chuckled. "You're right. Thanks."

"One other thing, Axel," Sora said, taking a step toward his friend, "Don't catch him on the rebound. Give him some time…if things don't work out between he and Naminé."

Axel's lips twisted upward and he nodded. "You're not half-bad, Sora."

"Am I half-good?"

The redhead ruffled up Sora's hair and laughed out loud. "You're more than half-good."

Sora watched as Roxas and Naminé walked toward them, hands intertwined. His blue eyes met Axel's teal ones and it was then that Sora realized how much pain he was going through. "Hey Axel-"

"Sora, I don't think that I'm going to be at yours and Irvine's welcome party. I think that I just need some time."

"I understand," Sora said quietly before flashing a brilliant smile in his direction. Roxas and Naminé were directly in front of Axel's place. "But," he lowered his voice, "They're right behind you. Do you want to actually take that walk we were talking about taking?"

Axel simply shook his head and whispered, "Nah. D'you want to come over to my place for a few minutes?"

"So you won't have to talk to him?" Sora replied, a little louder than he should've.

"Talk to who?"

Axel whirled around and smirked. "You."

Roxas looked slightly taken aback by the redhead's forwardness and frowned. "What'd I do?"

Axel shrugged, playful smirk still on his lips. "I don't know. But I don't know if I'd recommend going in that front door just yet," his eyes darted between Roxas and Naminé and a full-blown grin spread across his face. "Demyx looks like he could kill. You're now dating his wittle sissy-poo."

Nice cover up, Sora thought. Very covert.

"Axel!" Naminé cried, folding her arms. "No way! He's not mad, is he?"

Sora watched as Axel's gaze fell upon Roxas and then moved to his house. "I really have to get going. I'll catch you guys later."

"You're not coming to Sora and Irvine's-"

"No. Sorry Rox. I've had...some things come up."

"Anything I can help you with?" the blonde asked, dropping his girlfriend's hand. The redhead chuckled wryly and merely shook his head before walking toward his house. Roxas frowned after Axel and turned to Sora. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Yeah. But it's not my place to say anything." Naminé's eyes widened with realization and very suddenly, a guilty look washed across her face. Sora exchanged a look with her and smiled. "Would you guys mind waiting outside for just a minute before coming inside?"

"Wh-" "Not a problem," Naminé cut Roxas off, stepping on his foot, a gentle smile on her face. "Just yell at us when you're ready for us to come on in."

"Alright," Sora beamed, turning on heel and heading back down the pathway to his new home. He burst through the front door, wearing a serious expression. The three teenagers were _still _arguing in their little circle, the only difference being that Irvine had jumped on the bandwagon and was arguing his own points, which, conveniently enough, were the same points that Selphie was making. "Guys!"

Irvine turned to his brother and cocked his head to the side. "What's up?"

"Naminé and Roxas are here. May I suggest a change in topic? What kind of pizza we're having, possibly?" Sora waved his hands in the air in an exasperated manner.

"But this is-" "Best left alone." Sora firmly stated, cutting Selphie off. "It's none of your business. It's none of mine either. This business is between Roxas, Axel and Naminé. So, please, guys, knock it off."

Everyone was quiet and Irvine, shocked. Never in a billion years had he heard or dreamed to hear Sora say something so mature. Riku smiled at Sora and nodded in agreement. Very soon after, Demyx and Selphie did the same and Sora released a sigh of relief. "Now…can you guys act…erm…normal?" he inquired, hopeful.

"Just what do you classify as 'normal'?" Demyx asked, an ear-to-ear grin spreading across his face.

"Good! I'll grab Naminé and Roxas and we can get this party started, right?"

"Axel's not coming?" Demyx questioned.

"What? Were you just beat with a stupid stick?" Selphie squealed, her fists clenching. "Of course he's not coming! He needs time, dummy!"

Demyx scratched the back of his neck and nervously laughed. "Yeah…"

* * *

The teens decided on three different extra large pizzas: pepperoni, Hawaiian and supreme. When the pizza guy knocked on the door, Selphie was first on her feet and ran to collect the foodstuffs. Riku, however, was on her tail with the cash and handed the pizza guy a fifty. "Keep the change."

Not that there was much.

Sora grabbed two slices of the Hawaiian; he had never really been one for peppers or mushrooms, and pepperoni, he believed, was overrated. "What do you guys want to do after pizza?"

"I don't know," Riku commented, "_Kirby_?"

"Nah…" Roxas replied, taking a bite of his pepperoni pizza. "Can't really get to know the new guys playing _videogames_."

"He has a point," Naminé said, taking a sip of her orange soda.

"How about something like truth or dare?" Irvine suggested.

Everyone looked around at one another. Sora shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"So it's agreed? Truth or dare?" Demyx asked, smile crossing his lips. Everyone nodded.

Selphie thrust her index finger into the air, grinning. "First, we have to establish the rules. First rule, nothing _really _crude. Sort of crude is alright, but nothing super perverted. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded. "Second rule," Selphie continued, "You only get one copout. If you use it and then there's something else you don't want to do or answer later, you're out."

"Can't we make it two?" Demyx whined, a pout forming on his lips.

"Just one," Selphie repeated, evil smile on her face.

"Next rule," Riku said, "Nothing said in this room leaves this room. That means everything said stays between us. Anything that happens, like say if Demyx has to kiss Naminé in a more than brotherly way, stays between us. Nothing leaves this room."

"That's good," Sora quietly whispered to himself, taking another slice of Hawaiian pizza.

"Third rule," Demyx added, "Nobody can be dared the same thing with the same person twice."

"And last rule," Riku went on, "Nobody can get mad at anybody else for the truth or dare they are given. For example, if Sora has to kiss Naminé, Roxas can't get mad at Sora for kissing her. Roxas can't get mad at the person who did the daring either. Sound fair? This is _just _a game."

"Sounds fair!" Naminé and Selphie exclaimed together, exchanging smiles.

Roxas was particularly quiet but nodded nevertheless. Sora thought he knew why Roxas seemed slightly withdrawn and it wasn't because he was uncomfortable with Naminé kissing someone else. He didn't seem like much of the jealous type.

Everyone got into a circle: Riku, Sora, Demyx and Selphie on the floor and Naminé, Roxas and Irvine on the couch. "Since Irvine suggested the game," Demyx started, "He should go first."

Irvine tipped his hat at the blonde and looked around; his eyes fell on Selphie. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," the brunette replied, smile on her face.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Yes!"

"Selphie, you're supposed to tell the _truth_," Demyx teased, winking.

"I am!" she squealed, folding her arms. "So _Demyx_, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Show us your favorite _sex _position. Demonstrate with…" an evil grin spread across her face, "_Sora_."

"Well…my favorite is the Flying Trapeze Swinging Spider Monkey…and seeing as I don't have any rope…I can't do it."

"There's a curtain right over there…"

"We'd break it! Have you seen how fat Sora is?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora retorted, folding his arms. "And do I get any say in this? I mean…I'm not really the acrobatic ty-" Sora found himself with his back to the floor and Demyx on top of him. The blonde's rather large hands held Sora's wrists above his head, legs straddled his middle and his lips were inches away from Sora's.

"It kind of looks like this…only we're supposed to be suspended in air with rope and Sora's supposed to be wearing a lot less and I should have a whip in my mouth and we should be swinging back and forth like crazy, swinging, spider monkeys…"

"Sounds sexy?" Riku commented, glancing down at the vibrantly red Sora. The rest of the teens were chuckling.

Demyx got up and helped Sora back to a sitting position. He glanced around at his friends and almost immediately decided on his victim. "Roxas. Truth or dare?"

The shorter blonde swallowed nervously and scratched his nose. "Truth."

In all honesty, Sora thought, it was probably the safest route. Demyx seemed a little coo-coo bananas.

"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas…" All eyes were on Demyx. "If you had to have gay-butt-sex with any one of your friends…who would it be?"

Sora thought wrong. Definitely not the safer route to go. Nope.

"What kind of question is that, Demyx? Selphie!" Roxas demanded, "Doesn't that violate the first rule?"

"Nope!" she proclaimed. "I said not too perverted. I think this is a perfectly legit question."

"Riku!" Roxas whined, "What do you think?"

"I don't see any problem with it. There are no displays of lewdness. I mean, it's not like you're doin' the guy," Riku replied.

"Fine. I pass."

"Aw…Roxy…You're no fun!" Demyx griped.

Roxas gave Naminé a look out of the corner of his eye, took a sip of his fizzy beverage and proceeded to set his drink down on a coaster. "Demyx, truth or dare?"

"Well…already did a dare…truth."

"Mr. Flying Trapeze Spider Monkey-"

"You forgot the Swinging," Naminé chimed.

"My bad. I digress, Demyx, what's the furthest you've gone with anyone and who was it?"

"You know the answer to this one," the blonde replied, averting his gaze. "I, well, er…Made out with Xion a couple years ago."

"You've never gone further than _that_?" Irvine inquired, quirking an eyebrow. "No way, man! You're just about as bad as Sora!"

"Oh shut it, Irvine," Sora retorted. "Some people don't have sex with everything that walks and has boobs."

Selphie looked over at Irvine and cocked her head. "You have sex with everything that walks and has boobs?"

"Now, now, Selphie. It's my turn to ask a question…" Demyx interrupted, looking at Irvine with interest. However, he turned to Riku and asked, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Pick any guy in the room and kiss him. And Selphie counts as a gu-" _THWACK_!

The whole room, save for Selphie, laughed until she shot everyone dirty looks. "I am a _girl_, thank you very _much_."

"We know that, Selph," Roxas simpered, "But you've gotta learn to take a joke."

"Back to the dare at hand," Demyx proclaimed, watching Riku wriggle about uncomfortably. His eyes fell on Sora, then Roxas, then Irvine and then Sora again. However, much to Demyx's surprise, he found his lips covered with Riku's. "Er…yeah. So, Riku, your turn," the blonde proclaimed, averting his gaze. Sora was certain that he could see a light blush across Demyx's cheeks and wondered if that meant that he was gay too. If he was…how in the _world _did Sora land himself in a group of mostly gay men and a couple of straight women?

"Sora," Riku cooed, "Truth or dare?"

Sora thought about this for a moment. He wasn't sure what kind of truth he'd be asked…but seeing as all of the questions thus far had been sexual…then again, all of the dares had been kind of sexually-related too…But maybe Riku would take it easy on him because he was the new guy and all… "Dare."

An evil smirk crossed Riku's lips and immediately, Sora regretted choosing that option. "Give it your best shot and try to seduce Naminé."

Sora swallowed the large ball of nervous in his throat and blushed. How the hell did you seduce somebody? He crawled toward the couch and pulled himself to his feet, using the arm. A small smile crossed his lips as he pulled the silk flowers out of the vase from the end table. "These flowers, Naminé, don't even come close to rivaling your beauty-"

Snickering erupted from everyone and he heard Riku say something about "old-fashioned."

"-and I want to have wild, crazy, spider monkey sex with you tonight. What do you say? Come to my room?" Sora finished, trying his hardest not to crack up along side everyone else. Naminé was also trying hard to keep a straight face and, eventually succumbed to the laughter.

It took a few minutes, but after Sora recomposed himself and sat back down, he turned to his brother and grinned, "Truth or dare?"

"Just knowing you Sora…I think I'm going to have to go for a truth," Irvine stated, still attempting to recover from his brother's spider monkey sex comment.

"Alright." Sora had to think. Irvine obviously didn't think Sora would come up with anything _good _to ask. He'd always been really, really bad at truth or dare which usually made for funny things to be said or happen. He needed to think of something…"When was the last time you kissed someone and who was it?"

"I really don't know. I think it was Penelo back in Cherry Grove. She was pretty cute. I guess it's been a year or so?"

"Really?" Sora asked, jaw dropping ever-so-slightly. "Whatever happened to that girl, Donna or whatever in New Bark?"

"We never did anything," Irvine replied. Selphie looked satisfied with Irvine's answer and Sora was happy to note this. Good question, he thought, fantastic question. His brother owed him one. "And now, dear, sweet Naminé…Truth or dare?"

"Truth I guess," the blonde girl replied.

"Which person in the room do you think is most likely to flirt with themselves in the mirror?" he asked, glancing over at Riku.

"Definitely not Demyx. He wouldn't know what to do if a lamp came onto him!" The blue-eyed girl grinned at her brother and then turned to Roxas. "Though Roxas comes in a very close second (he's very anal about his hair, you know), I'd have to say that, you, Irvine, are the most likely person to flirt with themselves in the mirror. And no, Riku might be the sexiest-aside from Roxas of course! And Demyx!-in the room, but he doesn't flaunt it."

"Nice save," Sora remarked, looking at a smiling Roxas and Demyx. "And good pick. He _does _flirt with himself in the mirror!"

"Do not!" Irvine snapped. "Okay. Maybe that one time-but that was it! I _swear_!"

Riku and Roxas simply chuckled and exchanged some sort of look that Sora knew was a silent joke between them. And it was then that Sora wished that Kairi was there. She and him had so many silent jokes and looks and hand signals…they'd gotten into so much trouble together and…what did it matter anyway? It was his first day in the new home. Not like he was _really _friends with anyone yet.

"Ahem!" Naminé cleared her throat and had a dangerous look in her eye. Sora hoped to the heavens that it wasn't him she was going to pick. "Riku!" she exclaimed, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Riku replied coolly. He didn't really seem like a truth kind of guy. He was much cooler than that…much more…daring?

"Okay. This is kind of a long dare. But…I dare you to put peanut butter under one armpit and jelly under the other. Then, take two pieces of bread, wipe it off, smack the sides together and eat the sandwich," she grinned, exchanging a look with Selphie.

"That's a good one, Nam," Selphie remarked, looking up at her friend. "Where'd you pull _that _one from?"

"Demyx's diary," she responded, looking to her brother.

"It's a _journal_…And _wait_! Why the heck are you reading my-"

"Diary?" Selphie finished, giggling. "You keep a _diary_?"

Riku's left eyebrow slid up his forehead and a small smirk formed on his pale lips. Sora knew something along the lines of blackmail was running through Riku's mind. "So, Riku, get on with your dare!"

He got up and headed toward the kitchen. Sora watched Naminé and Selphie tease Demyx unmercifully and listened in on Roxas and Irvine's conversation; Irvine was explaining how this one time, he totally got smashed and-

Riku walked back into the room, peanut butter under one armpit and jelly under the other. Selphie's face held a look of disgust as he began wiping the sandwich makings onto the bread. Irvine and Roxas looked totally amused while Demyx's jaw was dropped wide open. Naminé wore an evil smile and Sora…well…Sora wasn't sure whether he should be amused, disgusted, shocked that he was actually doing this dare or all of the above.

There was a chorus of "yuck" and "gross" as Riku took his first bite and pulled a silver armpit hair out of his mouth and then proceeded to finish the rest of the sandwich. He held a triumphant look on his face and then proceeded to walk toward the bathroom, presumably to wash the sticky off of his armpits.

"That was _disgusting_!" Selphie gagged, quickly taking a sip from her styrofoam cup. "I never want to see something that gross again!"

"Oh come on, Selphie," Naminé began, "It was funny. And you know it. At least I didn't dare _you _to do that."

"I shave my armpits, thank you very much!"

Riku came back into the living room a few minutes later; Roxas, Demyx and Irvine gave him thumbs up signs. As he sat down, his hand brushed against Sora's and Sora looked away, feeling his cheeks heating up. Why? He wasn't really sure. He didn't like guys but still...

"Truth or dare, Selphie?"

"I've already done a truth…so dare?"

A toothy grin made it's way onto Riku's face. "I dare you to kiss every guy in the room and then tell us who has the worst breath."

Selphie got to her feet, smoothed out her skirt and smiled. "Riku, I can already tell you who I think has the worst breath."

"Who?" Sora asked before Riku could, grin spreading across his face.

"Sora. He puked his guts out this morning! And unless he brushed his teeth…"

"I did!" he retorted, crossing his arms. "Thank you very _much_!"

Riku chuckled, Demyx grinned and Roxas rolled his eyes. "Alright! Boys stand up!" All did as were asked; Irvine looked anxious. Sora watched as Selphie pressed her lips first to Roxas' and quickly moved around the circle. She passed a still seated Naminé and proceeded to move counterclockwise to Irvine (whose body stiffened up upon contact) and then to Riku (who seemed to enjoy himself a little too much for not liking boobs). Sora was a little on the nervous side; he'd only kissed a couple other girls in his life…As Selphie pressed her warm, soft lips against his, Sora decided that kissing her wasn't nearly as awkward as his first time kissing Kairi. He almost liked it. Almost.

She moved onto Demyx and then declared, "None of you guys have bad breath! You all have pizza breath. I'd have to say that Demyx's was the worst though because I hate the smell of peppers and that Sora's was by far, the best. Hawaiian is my favorite." She winked at him and then sat back down. "Roxas. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he responded. It was obvious, at least to Sora, that Roxas wasn't a very daring person. He obviously didn't want to get a Selphie-Dare.

"Well…since he's not here and it's always fun to talk about people when they're not around…How do you feel about Axel?"

"He's my best friend."

"That's your relationship. That isn't how you feel about him," Selphie replied, eyeing Naminé. The blonde girl looked over to Roxas, biting her lip. Everyone was silent, all eyes on Roxas.

"He's cool. I like being around him. He's pretty funny. Sometimes he's impossible-stubborn even and I think he dresses kind of funny sometimes. Embarrassing. Annoying. But my best friend, nevertheless." Everyone was quiet after his answer. "Why do you ask? Does this have something to do with why Ax…"

Realization dawned on him, Sora thought. He looked like he was beat with a "God I'm Retarded" stick. Roxas regained his composure and grinned. "Dude. No. Axel likes someone-not me. He really has stuff to do. I'm sure. He told me so earlier. He's working on his art portfolio."

Riku sighed. The game was going downhill. "Do you guys want to do something else?"

"Like what?" Roxas asked, "Spin the bottle?"

"Oh my gosh! That's a great idea!" Selphie squeaked, her fisted hands flying up to her chest. "We _so _should!"

"Did you forget that there are only two girls?" Irvine questioned, looking at the squealing brunette. "There are six guys."

"Make that seven," Axel declared, hopping in through the window. "Just finished sketching out my self-portrait. Need a break. Mind if I join?"

"Of course not!" Sora grinned, making room between he and Demyx.

While everyone began chattering and Riku went to the garage to find a bottle, Sora studied Axel's eyes for some clue as to how much he heard Roxas say but could find nothing. When Riku returned with an empty glass Cokebottle, Axel suggested that everyone sit on the floor to make it easier to "make the moves" on everyone else.

"Irvine, don't forget that half of the room rather prefer the male species," Selphie remarked, winking at Riku.

"I suppose…" he agreed, taking a seat next to Selphie on the floor. He looked at Riku and grinned, "No funny business."

"So…who spins first?" Naminé inquired, looking around the circle.

"Axel," Roxas declared. "He wasn't here for truth or dare. He needs to get in on the fun."

Everyone else nodded in agreement and Sora, following suit, resituated himself so that he was sitting crisscross applesauce. He watched as the redhead grabbed a hold of the bottle (which was set on a book; it was much too hard to spin a bottle properly on carpet) and twirled it around. "Around and round the bottle goes, where it stops, nobody knows!" Selphie and Naminé said together, wide grins spread across their faces.

When the bottle stopped, a smirk crossed Axel's lips and he leaned to his right, planting a big smooch smack-dab on Demyx's lips. Demyx mock-spat and laughed. "That was _so wrong _on _so many _different levels," the blonde remarked, wiping his mouth off with the back of his arm. He then proceeded to grab a hold of the bottle and spun.

The bottle, when stopped, pointed at none other than Irvine. Sora's brother groaned and waited for the worse to come. Selphie was next and ended up smooching Riku. Naminé was quite unfortunate, as the bottle landed on her own brother while Roxas' landed on Sora; he decided that kissing Roxas was like kissing his own brother. Irvine was relieved to see that when he spun, it landed on Naminé and not Axel or worse-his own brother. Riku had a hard time concealing his excitement when it was his turn and he wound up kissing Sora. Sora thought that Riku's lips were soft and warm…and that it felt right and familiar in some sort of weird way (but decided against admitting this out loud). Sora couldn't help but grin when the bottle pointed at Demyx. All he could think about was Flying Trapeze Swinging Spider Monkey sex or whatever that was.

He crawled toward Demyx and planted his lips on the blonde's. His lips were soft…just as soft as Riku's. And they were warm and felt so nice to the touch-but he really needed to pull away or else it might look weird. Sora found himself back in his own spot just in time to hear the girls declare that they were going to play seven minutes in heaven instead because spin the bottle was so ninety-five or something like that.

For some reason, when Demyx and Sora were paired up to leave to the closet together for seven minutes, he wasn't surprised. Good things came in threes, right?

Sora looked up into Demyx's eyes when the door was closed and licked his lips. "Don't really know you," he chuckled and scratched his nose. "Never played this game before either."

The corner of Demyx's lips curled upward and he crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall of the closet door. "No?"

"Nope," Sora replied and leaned against the opposite wall. "Never played it."

"We were never really properly introduced either, were we?"

"Not really. I know you're Demyx and you play bass. You're Nami's brother and that you rather enjoy windows. Oh. And we can't forget that your favorite position-though the furthest you've ever gone is making out with someone named Xion-has something to do with spider monkeys, whips and ropes."

"Don't forget, you're supposed to be wearing much less than what you are," he added, grinning.

"Are you gay too?" Sora asked out of the blue.

"No. Not really," Demyx responded, "I generally like someone because of who they are, not because they have a penis or vagina."

"Oh really?" Sora asked, grinning. "How much more time do you think we have?"

"Six minutes," the blonde replied, tongue flicking between his lips.

"Six minutes," Sora repeated, shoving a hand into his pocket and running the other one through his chocolate locks. "What's your last name?"

"Starkey. Yours is Strife, right?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "What's your favorite game in an arcade?"

"Air hockey."

"Mine's pinball. I had all of the high scores at this one arcade in Cherry Grove. They called me the Pinball Wizard," he laughed, shoving his other hand into his pocket.

"Oh yeah? That's one of my favorite songs to play. I'm in a band, by the way. We call ourselves Backdraft. No. Not like a fart or something stupid like that…but you know how when fire fighters open a very hot room and oxygen is let in…You know how the room can explode with fire?"

"I think I got it," Sora said, trying to contemplate just what Demyx had said. "Yeah. Got it. That's kind of nifty. Who came up with that name?"

"Hayner. Friend of mine and Roxas'."

"Cool."

And silence spread between the two. Sora had decided in the mere two hours he had known him…that he kind of liked Demyx, though he _was _a bit kooky. Demyx was funny and, for a guy, kind of cute. And his lips were nice.

But so were Riku's. But Riku didn't seem interested in him like _that_.

"Hey Sora?"

"Hmm?"

"We have four minutes left. Do you…um…want to do something?"

"Like what?" Sora asked, his friendly neighborhood dinosaurs tap dancing in his stomach.

"I don't know. This game…you know…we're supposed to do…stuff…right?"

"I guess so. I don't know," Sora responded, suddenly finding his shoes rather interesting. He glanced up at Demyx whose gaze was averted and whose cheeks were bright. "I've never played before, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Demyx sighed and bit his lip.

"Do you _want _to do something?" Sora questioned.

Blue met blue and the blonde chuckled. "I don't know. Your lips were kind of nice."

"So were yours," Sora admitted, smiling just a little. He took a step forward (which covered the majority of space between them) and held his breath as Demyx stood up straight and placed his hands on the shorter boy's shoulders. He stared down into Sora's eyes before his eyelids slowly drifted downward and just before his lips met the brunette's, Sora's fingers met Demyx's lips. "I've never…really _kiss_-_kissed _anyone."

The blonde smiled and shook his head just a little and Sora knew that it didn't matter to him. Demyx's blue orbs became hidden behind his eyelids and his lips pressed against Sora's. His eyelids became very heavy, quite suddenly, and as his lips parted a little, he wrapped his arms around Demyx's neck. The blonde's tongue made its way into Sora's mouth and the warmth was nice and as the kiss became deeper and deeper and Demyx's arms pulled Sora closer, Sora's brain did this: sdgjwegaldskljetaelskfae.

They pulled apart and Sora slowly opened his eyes and everything seemed to be clearing up, though the fog was still present. He looked up into Demyx's blue eyes; he was smiling and looked genuinely happy, sweet. And Sora could feel blush creep onto his cheeks. Demyx's cheeks were a little pink too.

Then the fact that he had just had his first _real _kiss with a guy that he had met two hours before came crashing into his mind, blowing away the fog. He felt very wild and, what was that word? Scandalous?

"Did I…?"

"Do okay?" Demyx finished, dropping his hands to his side. Sora did the same. "A little wetter than I like, but pretty damn good for your first time." Demyx winked at Sora. "Still got a couple minutes. Wanna try again?"

* * *

"Did you have fun, Sora?" Riku questioned, sincerely.

It was well after dark. Everyone else had left hours beforehand and the rest of Sora's new family (and Irvine) were already in bed. The two teens were out front sitting on the porch swing. Sora flashed Riku a genuine smile and nodded. "Haven't had so much fun since I lived in Cherry Grove."

"Good. I'm happy," Riku said, smiling.

A comfortable silence blanketed the two. Sora wore a brilliant smile while Riku held a calm expression. Sora glanced over at Riku and let his hand accidentally brush against the other teen's, allowing it to stay so that it was still touching Riku's. "Thanks for tonight, Riku."

"Not a problem," he replied, looking down at their hands. "Hey…I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Just what did you and Demyx do in the closet?"

Sora felt heat creep up his neck and to his ears. He gave Riku a goofy grin and shook his head. "Kissed."

"You're _so _gay," Riku laughed, covertly moving his fingers over Sora's.

"What did you and Axel _do_?"

"Nothing, actually. We talked a little bit. Nothing physical. Don't look at him like that. He's more like a brother to me," Riku explained.

Sora quickly glanced down at their hands and smiled just a little. "Cool."

"How exactly did you guys…kiss?" Riku questioned, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"Let me show you," Sora replied, leaning forward so that his lips were nearly touching Riku's. Before Riku could clear the distance of their lips (Sora didn't notice his attempt), Sora pulled away and laughed. "Just kidding. Sorry. Couldn't help myself. You're just fun to tease."

"You're _such _a _tease_."

"Am I?"

"You are," Riku confirmed, sliding his hand completely over Sora's. He closed the distance between their lips and caught Sora's. Though shocked at first, Sora closed his eyes and leaned into Riku's touch. He felt as Riku parted his lips and mimicked what the other teen was doing. Riku's tongue was warm and soft and nice and…asldgjwaegljasfi.

After Riku pulled away, it took Sora a very long time to open his eyes. When he finally did, he found Riku wearing a very unreadable expression. Sora's mind was still a little on the foggy side when Riku finally spoke. "Sorry."

It took Sora an eternity to process and register what Riku had just said. "Sorry?"

"Yeah. That was completely out of line. I'm just a little bit horny. A lot a bit, actually," he corrected himself and sighed.

"Do you ever do this with Roxas?" Sora asked out of the blue, a slightly jealous edge in his voice.

"Once," Riku admitted. "It was a while ago, actually. We tried it out but it felt very…wrong."

"…How did it feel with me?"

"Very…"

"Very?"

Riku smiled and shook his head. "It's not really important. We've known each other for a day."

"Known you longer than I knew Demyx when _we _kissed…" Sora mumbled and then grinned. "So…it felt very what?"

"What did it feel like to _you_?"

"I asked you first," Sora argued, grin still wiped across his face.

Riku chuckled quietly to himself and shook his head. "Very right."

"Very right," Sora repeated. "Yeah. Very right. That's the only way I can think to describe it."

"Are you teasing me right now?"

And Sora pressed his lips against Riku's. "Does this feel like a joke to you?"

Riku chuckled and took his hand off of Sora's. "Is this your head talking or your…" he pointed down at Sora's lap and laughed. "I think I need to get home."

"Just stay the night," Sora protested as Riku got up off the porch swing. "Please?"

Riku shook his head and winked. "No. If I were to stay the night, I'd want to do some things that are less than appropriate for knowing you for only a few hours."

"So!" Sora argued, rising to his feet. "I wouldn't mind."

"Now I _know _that's your penis talking. We aren't dating, we don't really know each other. You're too…good for something like that."

"Fine." Sora pouted his bottom lip and crossed his arms.

Riku winked. "Anyway, have a good night Sora. It's just about two. Mom's going to think I just stayed the night."

"You could! I'll take the floor even. It's just…so much fun hanging out with you," Sora admitted, grinning. "I promise that I won't let you do anything. I'm stronger than I look!"

"No, Sora. I can't, really."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"I can't."

"With sugar on top?"

"Goodnight, Sora." That said, Riku pecked Sora on the cheek and descended the front porch steps. The brunette watched as his newfound friend walked down the path to the gate and across the street. Sora's fingertips wandered up to his cheek and he smiled. The front porch light at Riku's turned off but Sora still stood there, watching his friend's house.

He settled himself into his bed that night and pulled his blanket up around his shoulders. How in the world had he gotten so lucky to land himself in a foster home where he met someone he already knew and had, in one day, made five friends: Riku, Demyx, Axel, Roxas and Selphie?

Sora found that he was rather tired; it had been a long day…nearly twenty-four hours. His eyelids fell shut and he fell quickly and quietly into a deep slumber. That night, images of his earliest important memory danced through his mind and one name continuously came to mind: Riku.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jayden would like you to note…**that you have just lost the game. Again. I digress. This chapter definitely calls for you to listen to a good dose of the Hansons and other boy bands from the 90's. Also, a huge thanks to Chronos Mephistopheles, the best beta and friend in the world. **Please don't forget to go to my profile and vote for the 25 days of Christmas pairings that you would love to see me write!** Without further ado, "C'est la Vie". Enjoy!

**Mmmbop**

Sora shot straight up and threw his blanket to his side, frowning. Was he hearing things? Looking around and feeling a tad bit paranoid, he shook his head and decided that the things he was hearing were absolutely nothing. However, the very moment that Sora settled back in and his head hit the pillow, he heard the noise again. This time though, Sora decided that it would be best to further investigate the suspicious noise and proceeded to get out of his bed and walk over to the window.

Upon looking outside, he did not, in fact, see an alien nor did he find big foot. Instead, much to his delight (and relief), he found Demyx throwing tiny pebbles at the glass from the other side of the garden in an attempt to capture his attention.

It had been nearly a week since Sora and his brother, Irvine, had moved into the Leonhart's house in Goldenrod City. In this short span of time, Sora had acquired a few friends and had discovered that he did not tend to crush on people of the opposite sex. And the more he looked at Kairi's picture, the less like-liked her and the more he found broad shoulders and square jaws to be to his taste and to his liking. This, however, was not to say that Sora didn't find her attractive-in fact, he found her to be quite beautiful. He just wasn't as interested in running his fingers over her tan lines as he was before.

"Sora, come on…I want to show you something."

"What is it this time of morning?" Sora hissed, his eyes darting over to the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock. The adrenaline rush quickly disappeared and realization dawned on his body just what time it was.

"It's something you can only see this time of morning, this time of year," Demyx chuckled.

Sora quirked an eyebrow in his friend's general direction and suddenly felt very grateful that it was dark in his room and that Demyx was on the other side of the garden outside. The tent he was sporting was quite embarrassing.

"What do you say?" Demyx pressed and moved toward the window, careful not to step on any of the marigolds or irises.

Sora released a sigh and scratched his head. "Squall will be so pissed if he finds out that I snuck out..."

"Is that a yes?" the blonde asked, resting his arms on the window sill.

Sora nodded and turned away from the window. "Yeah...I guess."

"You won't regret it," Demyx said, "Unlike that tent."

Sora went red in the face and pulled his black shorts up over his boxers, fidgeting with the button. "It just goes to show that I am a perfectly healthy teenage boy," he muttered and pulled a t-shirt over his head.

Demyx laughed and shook his head, backing away from the window as Sora slipped on his flip flops. "It's worth it, I promise."

"It better be," Sora remarked, ducking out the window. He hopped over to the grass and tripped, landing on his face. Luckily enough, no flowers were damaged during the process. Demyx, doubled over and laughing, soon landed on his butt when Sora grabbed his ankle and pulled him down too.

After a few moments of shared laughter, the two boys picked themselves up off of the ground. "So...where exactly are we going?"

"A really cool place just outside of the city," Demyx responded, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Outside of the city...?" Sora questioned.

"It's not that far, Sora," the blonde replied, hearing the obnoxious whine in Sora's voice. "Only a little over two miles from here."

"Two miles? Why didn't you warn me of this earlier today?"

He winked. "I thought it was more romantic this way."

"Romantic? Demyx, I think you've gone off the deep end. I fail to see how waking me up in the middle of the morning, making fun of my junk and making me walk a bazillion miles is very romantic."

"Next time I'll be sure to serenade you, princess."

"Princess?" Sora scoffed, "Only if I can call you Captain Fruity Pants."

A crazed grin spread across Demyx's face as he gave Sora two thumbs up. "Alright, sounds good. Can Captain Fruity Pants offer Princess Sora a piggy back ride to his house? We will drive if the princess would prefer."

"Driving might be nice...I don't think I need a piggy back next door."

"Suit yourself," the blonde responded and began toward he and Axel's place.

The two were careful to close the gate quietly so as to not alarm the yappy dog two houses away. They swiftly made their way down the sidewalk and to Demyx's car. Sora observed the blonde pull his keys out of his pocket and unlock the door. "So it's only a couple miles away?"

Demyx nodded and ducked into the car, unlocking the passenger door. "Any preference for music?"

"Not really. I listen to pretty much everything," Sora replied and buckled himself in. He sat there quietly, not really awake enough to strike up conversation. Hence, the car ride was virtually silent, save for the rock playing in the background.

The car came to a stop alongside a grassy field. Sora tentatively glanced over to his friend and then out into the field. He could see a light blue glow in the distance. This made him a bit nervous and images of aliens began to flash in his mind. What if they were abducted and, god forbid, _probed_?

Demyx stepped out of the car and Sora followed suit. "Where are we going?"

"See that blue glowing? We're going there."

The brunette swallowed the golf ball in his throat and nodded. "Yeah? What's over there?"

"Aliens," Demyx stated, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Sora stopped dead in his tracks. "For serious?"

Demyx laughed and shook his head. "No. Why would aliens come to Goldenrod? And furthermore, why in the world would they want me?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you _are _an alien," Sora responded, a giant grin pasted on his face.

"Come on," Demyx said, holding out his hand. "Let's get over there before it goes away."

The two boys trekked across the field. It got progressively muddier and muddier and Sora thought about taking off his shoes so that nobody would notice he was out. He quickly brushed that thought aside when he saw the pond. An ear-to-ear smile was evident on Sora's face and he rushed up to the waterside and stared at all of the fireflies. "Wow...it's so pretty. I've never seen anything like it..."

"Pretty?" Demyx asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I didn't know manly men used the term, 'pretty.'"

"Shut it," Sora retorted, sticking his tongue out at the tall guy beside him. "I mean, would you please be so kind as to close your cute mouth?"

The two roared with laughter and sat down on a conveniently placed log. "This is really nice, thanks for bringing me out here, Demyx."

"No, thank you for coming out here with me. I really like this place this time of year. It's nice to look at. Helps me relax. This is where I actually write most of my songs."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," said a voice other than Demyx's. They both turned around and found Riku and Roxas walking up behind them. "He comes up with a lot of good stuff out here," Roxas continued, grinning. "Sometimes I make up lyrics and sing along with his bass."

Sora nodded and looked up at Riku. "Hey, what's up?"

Riku shrugged, noticing how closely Demyx and Sora were sitting together. "Not much. Roxas and I came out here to practice singing, actually."

"The ambiance helps," the blonde added, taking a seat next to Demyx.

"Why don't you pop a squat?" Sora cheerfully suggested, patting the log in the seat immediately to his right.

Riku nodded and sat down, leaving some distance between him and Sora. "Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem."

There was a comfortable silence that fell over the four teenagers as they sat and stared out at the fireflies dancing overtop the water. They almost looked like souls, Sora thought. He quietly scooted away from Demyx and sat perfectly between the two boys. He hoped that neither noticed.

"So..." Sora began, "What were you guys going to sing?"

Riku and Roxas exchanged a look and Roxas replied, "Want to hear one of them?" Demyx shrugged and Sora nodded. Riku, unnoticed by Sora but entirely seen by Demyx, shot a death glare at Roxas who smiled and pulled a tuner out of his pocket. "Nobody else has heard this song yet."

"This one?" Riku asked with irritation apparent in his voice.

"Yeah," Roxas replied and blew into the device.

Their voices started out as a gentle hum to ensure they were in tune with each other and then, much to Sora's surprise (as he had never heard either of the two sing), their voices pierced through the air.

_"I look to the sky and I think of your eyes_

_See them staring down at me._

_I walk down the street and I think of your face_

_Wonder if you're listening?"_

Their voices were overflowing with passion. Sora was thoroughly impressed and began to wonder if they actually made up the lyrics out of nowhere...and suddenly he wanted to see one of these creations take place. Did it just come out like a musical where they suddenly both knew all the lyrics? Or was it that they took turns coming up with verses?

_"I see you sitting and looking at the sky_

_Wonder if you notice me. _

_I watch you smile as another catches your attention_

_Realization: I have no chance."_

Sora noticed Riku's eyes find his when they sang the last line in the stanza. He swallowed a thick ball of nervous and broke his eye contact. Had that meant something or was Sora just so tired that he was seeing things and making ridiculous assumptions?

"_I close my eyes and I see you._

_I dream at night and I see you._

_You're all I see, all I dream and it drives me mad_

_You make me so sad._

_You're all I see..."_

Sora glanced at Demyx and was immediately perplexed. He seemed irritated. He was tapping his finger violently against the log and biting his lip. Demyx's face looked severe and his whole body seemed tense.

_"I write this song with you in my head_

_Pen is writing on this paper_

_I sing this song, hoping you will hear _

_Wonder if you're listening?"_

Noticing the exchange of looks between Demyx and Riku, Sora suddenly felt awkward. Neither of them broke eye contact with the other. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Demyx's jaw was clenched. He looked like he was gritting his teeth. Riku, on the other hand, had a scowl on his face.

_"I see you sitting; you're still under that tree_

_Wonder if you can hear me._

_I watch you laugh as another says something_

_Realization: I have no chance."_

In an attempt to not only break the tension, but to stop the tapping that was agitating Sora, he set his fingers over Demyx's tapping ones and the blonde immediately jerked his attention away from Riku to Sora. A small, unreadable smile formed on his lips as he relaxed ever so slightly. Relieved that the tension between the two had ceased, Sora glanced over at Roxas. His eyes were closed and he was singing with such passion that it made Sora wonder if he had written this song for Naminé.

"_I close my eyes and I see you._

_I dream at night and I see you._

_You're all I see, all I dream and it drives me mad_

_You make me so sad._

_You're all I see..."_

The tone in Riku's voice changed ever so slightly. Was Sora hearing things? Did Riku's voice _crack_? His gaze met Sora's and their eyes stayed locked for at least five seconds before Riku sadly averted his eyes to the pair of hands and then to the floating fireflies.

_"Your blue eyes, they haunt mine_

_Your soft face, it smiles...Beautiful."_

And it was then that Sora put two and two together. His gesture toward Demyx might've implied...and it wasn't like that! He just wanted to break the tension and he wanted the fingers to stop tapping and...Sora immediately retracted his hand from Demyx's.

"_I close my eyes and I see you._

_I dream at night and I see you._

_You're all I see, all I dream and it drives me mad_

_You make me so sad._

_You're all I see...so why can't you see me?_

_Why can't you see...me?"_

Sora felt a little foolish because as soon as their song was over, Demyx made a comment about how it was going to be the song that made them big and Riku laughed and Roxas grinned goofily. Had be been imagining that entire exchange? Was he really that tired? He might have been. It had been at least an hour since Demyx had pulled him out of bed and he hadn't been sleeping well and...Well...he was exhausted.

"I really liked your song," Sora yawned and smiled. The smile was reciprocated by Roxas but Riku was avoiding his gaze. Or maybe he wasn't because he was talking with Demyx? So tired.

"Hey Demyx," Roxas began, his tone implying that he wanted something. "Would it be cool if I crashed at your place tonight?"

"I don't care..." Demyx replied, "But if you don't mind my asking, why?"

"Err...well...You see..."

Riku cut in, "Axel hasn't been talking to him much for the last couple of weeks and he wanted to talk to him about that."

Roxas scratched the back of his neck and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, silly, I know."

"He's just been busy, Rox. College is much more strenuous than high school, you know. Tons more work," Demyx replied. Sora had this feeling that he was going to try and convince him not to come over.

"Ah...well...Still? Would you mind if I crashed on your couch for the night?"

Sora elbowed Riku in the side and gestured for him to follow. Demyx gave Sora a peculiar look and Sora shrugged. The exchange satisfied the blonde enough so that he turned his attention back to Roxas.

Riku apprehensively followed Sora around the large pond and stopped dead in his tracks the moment that they were out of sight and earshot from the other two. He cleared his throat and asked, "What's up?"

"Not much really...I just...wanted to talk to you."

Riku crossed his arms, a playful smirk tugged at his lip. "Something you can't share in front of everyone?"

Sora's cheeks heated up and he looked away from Riku. He placed his hands on his hips and stared out at the pond. "Well...No. I would rather not talk about it in front of everyone I guess."

Quirking an eyebrow, Riku gestured for him to go on and get to the point.

"There's nothing between me and Demyx."

Riku stifled a chortle and shook his head, "I don't even know how to reply to that. I mean, what in the world were you two doing out here during these ungodly hours?"

"Why does it matter?" Sora defensively retorted, "What were you and Roxas doing out here?"

Riku grew quiet and shook his head. "Jealous?"

Sora grew red in the face and quickly shook his head. "No. Why would I be jealous of Roxas? It's not like I have a thing for you anyway so do whatever you want."

Riku's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then why did you bring me out here to talk about whether or not Demyx and you have something going on? Obviously you care what I think."

"I just don't want to give you the wrong idea," Sora admitted, shoulders relaxing.

"The wrong idea? Sora. Please. You are leading Demyx on with all your little touches. You came out here with him, alone, in the middle of the night. And you're leading me on. And you say you don't want me to get the wrong idea? Sora, I think I've gathered a pretty good picture of who you are." He paused and licked his lips, "And you're not who I thought you were."

Tears stung the corners of Sora's eyes as Riku walked back toward the others. He hadn't realized that he had been leading anyone on. He leaned on Demyx earlier because he was tired. He touched his hand because he wanted the tapping to stop; it was disrespectful to their song. Besides, he had only agreed to come out here with Demyx because he didn't want to get a sled full of crap over the course of the next week about being a chicken shit and not sneaking out.

"Wait, Riku," he choked out. "Let me explain."

There was no answer.

-.X.-

Axel stared up at his poster-plastered ceiling. He laid down two and a half hours before and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. Something was bothering him. Roxas was bothering him. In fact, Axel hadn't slept much since Roxas asked Nami out.

Normally, Axel wouldn't be the kind of guy to lose sleep over such a preposterous notion. In fact, Axel didn't even understand why himself. Yeah, he was a bit bummed. And yes, every single time he saw Roxas or Naminé or both of them together, his blood boiled. And thinking about them together infuriated him. But...it also depressed the hell out of him.

He wanted his friend-no, his _best friend_-to be happy. Yes, he wanted this very much. But he wanted Roxas to be happy with _him_. Not with someone else. Axel felt this was selfish of him but all at once, he felt like he deserved Roxas. Felt like he could treat Roxas better than anyone in the entire world. And then...this.

Granted, he thought, it was probably his own fault. He hadn't made so much as a real move on Roxas. Ever. And he certainly was terrified of losing him altogether. Telling your best friend, "Hey, by the way, I'm gay and I want you and your body all to myself," didn't generally go over so well. At least, he was fairly certain it didn't-especially when said best friend had never so much as looked at a male and always talked about banging this girl or that.

Axel glanced over at his clock; it was well after four and Demyx still wasn't home. He couldn't help but wonder what in the hell he was doing with Sora at Pal Park at fucking four-thirty-two _in the morning_? Yes, yes, the fireflies. He knew all about the fireflies. But really? He didn't need to leave so late. They came out at twilight for Pete's sake!

Sighing, he turned over on his side. He had been the first person to take Roxas to see the fireflies when he first moved to town. And it seemed, no matter what he thought about, it always circled back around to Roxas. Axel couldn't escape the thought of him. And every time he thought about him, he became angsty and moody.

The front door opened and closed. Four-thirty-four. He listened quietly. Two pairs of footsteps. Had Demyx brought Sora home? Was Sora really that easy? And was Demyx actually intending on doing a little more than just kissing?

The thought made Axel chuckle to himself. Demyx, attempting to seduce a kid that was three years younger than him? Yeah. And he, Axel Turk, was a monkey's uncle. The thought was absolutely loony. But then again...was it? He wanted to seduce Roxas, a kid three years younger than himself.

Seducing Roxas. What a joke. As if Roxas would ever-"Roxas?" Axel hissed, only just noticing his door creaking open. "What the hell are you doing here at this ungodly hour?"

The blonde scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "I don't know. Riku and I ran into Dem and Sora at Pal Park."

Axel quirked an eyebrow. However, Roxas couldn't really make this out in the dark and so, upon realizing this merely seconds later, he cleared his throat. "Oh really? Why were you with Riku at Pal Park this late? You guys fucking again?"

Roxas choked and rolled his eyes. He slid his hand down the door and closed it behind him as he walked further into the surprisingly clean room. "What the hell would give you that idea?"

"You guys just seem...awfully close lately is all," he retorted, jealousy apparent in his tone.

"Do you think that I'm replacing you? Is that what's going on?" Roxas scowled and folded his arms.

Axel forced out a sigh and rolled over so that his back was facing his friend. "What's it matter to you anyway? You're never around anymore. Always got more important people to hang out with than little ol' me."

Roxas was quiet. He didn't know how to reply to this sudden outburst of emo anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Axel narrowed his eyes at his wall. "What isn't it supposed to mean?"

"Are you mad because I'm dating Naminé?"

"Why would I be? You can date whoever you want to date. That's not even the point, Roxas." Even though it was the point. The entire point to the argument, in fact.

Exasperated, Roxas closed the distance between himself and his friend's bed and sat down (a little more violently than he intended to). "Then what's the point? Why are you so fucking mad all the time?"

Axel's tongue darted out from between his lips, just barely wetting them, before he said, "I don't know."

Roxas threw his head back in laughter and ran his fingers through his spiked up hair. "You don't know? God, Axel, you're acting like me-a petulant teenager with a penchant for the dramatic."

Again, silence spread between the two, thick as cream cheese on a blueberry bagel. Axel breathed, not entirely sure what to say. Roxas sighed, no will to continue the argument. He didn't feel like he was asking much. Just wanted to know what was bugging his best friend.

"How far have you gone?" Axel finally asked. "With Riku, I mean."

Disbelief. What the hell did this have to do with anything? "I've never done anything with Riku. And even if I had, why do you care?"

Quick, make something up, Axel, he thought to himself. "Sora wanted to know."

"For your information, Sora and Riku had an argument tonight, I think. They just sort of sat in the back of the car, not talking to each other, both with their arms crossed and staring out their respective windows. Not quite sure what was up with that."

"Ah. Wonder who's going to be pouting tomorrow?"

"Both," Roxas sighed.

Axel nodded in agreement but said nothing. He didn't know if Roxas had noticed the movement or not. He didn't really care. Axel could feel Roxas' weight shifting on the bed. Wished he was shifting to lay with him so that Axel could pull him close, take in his scent...hold him tight.

He blinked and then slowly sat up so that he was next to Roxas. Their arms touched, skin lightly rubbed skin. Felt nice. Axel jerked away. Wanted to feel it so bad that he knew he shouldn't. Images of their bodies rocking together, sweaty, hot, bothered flashed through his mind. "Ngh..."

Concerned by the throaty noise escaping his friend's throat, the blonde asked, "You alright?"

Axel shook his head. "Too much to drink. You take my bed. More comfortable than the couch." And with that said, the redhead stood up and stumbled out the door. Combination of the alcohol and the images...too much. Needed sleep.

-.X.-

Sora stared out his window at the house across the street. He was on his knees, elbows propped in the window. He hadn't been able to fall back asleep since he got home and it was quickly approaching eight o'clock in the morning.

For a while, Sora had laid in bed, tossing and turning and thinking about what Riku had said. Granted, Sora hadn't been entirely honest with his friend, what Riku had said bothered him to no end.

It wasn't like he was trying to lead Demyx on. He was very attracted to the teen, but it wasn't like Demyx was actually _interested _in him beyond friendship. Yeah, they had kissed at the party-and that was a side effect of continuously discussing sex and being horny-but there was nothing there. Sora was so sure of it.

But, Sora thought, it was a mistake to tell Riku that he wasn't interested in him. That was a bold face lie. Sora was very interested in Riku far beyond friendship. He wanted to pin Riku against a wall, trail lips down from his neck to...

Sora stopped himself. He was, simply put, jealous of Riku and Roxas and was mad that he was called on it.

"What are you doing?"

Sora turned around, surprised, as he hadn't heard the door open, and shrugged. "Nothing."

"You're up early," Irvine continued, sliding inside of the room and latched the door shut. He crossed his arms and leaned backward. "And you're staring across the street at your boyfriend's house."

"...He's not my boyfriend," Sora quietly replied. "It's not like I like guys."

Irvine quirked an eyebrow and stayed silent.

"Oh come on, Irvine, you know me. I love Kairi."

"Then why are you staring out the window like a lost puppy at Riku's house? Did something happen between the two of you?"

It was Sora's turn to stay silent, but only briefly. After a few seconds of his brother's foot tapping, he gave in and replied, "When would I have had time to have an argument with him since last night?"

Irvine's lips turned upward into a twisted smile. He chuckled and pointed at the screen setting on the floor next to the window. "Last night?"

Sora turned red in the face and quickly scurried to pop his screen back in place. "Thanks. Probably would've gotten into trouble, huh?"

Irvine nodded. "So what happened?"

Sora sighed and popped the last corner back into place. "Stuff. But I mean, why does an argument with Riku mean that I like guys?"

"Sora? Puh-lease. I already told you, you're staring out your window at his house. It's just like what you used to do when you and Kairi had a fight."

"Why do you keep bringing Kairi up?"

"Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Why did you sneak out?"

"Why are you in my room?" Sora retorted, exasperated.

"Actually," Irvine replied, unfolding his arms, "Because you have a visitor."

Sora frowned. He wasn't expecting anyone over. Anyone who could be bothering him at this hour of the morning was more than likely sleeping. Riku hadn't come out of his house and there was no way that Demyx or Roxas were awake. And Axel, well, he wouldn't come over here if Roxas was at his house. Selphie might've come over, but why would Irvine bother coming back to the room? He would be too distracted. And besides, Selphie would've made a loud appearance.

"She's out in the living room. Want me to get her?"

"Her?"

Irvine nodded, confirming that Sora's visitor was female. That left Naminé as the only possible candidate. And she lived over a mile away and didn't drive. So what in the world was she doing over this early in the morning?

"Alright...let me get dressed into something a little more presentable. My current state of undress would embarrass her just a little.""I don't know...boxers and a wife beater might get her into bed..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sora retorted turning beet red. He shoved his leg into the pants and pulled them up around his waist, fastening the button. Irvine was smiling quite Grinchly. "No, really, what are you talking?"

Laughing, Irvine turned around and left a very confused Sora all by himself in his room. Sora pulled on the same shirt he had been wearing the night before and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

The door creaked open and blue eyes met Sora's surprised ones. "Good morning, Sora!"

"Kairi?"


End file.
